Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2025

[Pertinax]

It sounds like Meisie and Moanda would be ideal candidates for Melbourne Zoo. Being half-sisters that have grown up together in the same natal troop, they’d be quick to support each other against Otana if required.

I see their respective dams are the daughters of three wild born Apenheul gorillas - Bongo (sire of Kriba and Frala); and females Dalila and Lobo. I see Dalila spent time in Kibabu’s troop, producing a daughter with him in 1993, who died at six months of age. For some reason she then moved almost immediately into Bongo’s troop, producing a baby with him in 1994. Not sure of the reason for that change - unless in was in anticipation of the 1996 export (i.e. Taronga didn’t want 1.4 adults).

Yes, that's Njima and Miliki. I certainly think Melbourne need a pair of related females who would support each other, and not just one- or two that are strangers to each other. Though it wouldn't surprise me if the EEP didn't already have plans for the two Blackpool daughters though I can't understand why they have stayed at their natal zoo so long. As I said a lot of females get a transfer at around circa nine years old. I can only think Blackpool don't want to reduce their group size with their departure. I know Jersey intend to add to their group size when their new accomodation is finished as they only have four gorillas at present, so that is another possibility for those two.

Dalila has been in the Gaia Park group for some years now. She is getting on in years but like Kriba with Kaius at Mogo, she has recently adopted the little male son of another female who died when he was very small.

 

[Zoofan15]

Yes, that's Njima and Miliki. It wouldn't surprise me if the EEP didn't already have plans for the two Blackpool daughters though I can't understand why they have stayed at their natal zoo so long. As I said a lot of females get a transfer at around circa nine years old. I can only think Blackpool don't want to reduce their group size with their departure. I know Jersey intend to add to their group size when their new accomodation is finished as they only have four gorillas at present, so that is another possibility for those two.

Dalila has been in the Gaia Park group for some years now. She is getting on in years but like Kriba with Kaius at Mogo, she has recently adopted the little male son of another female who died when he was very small.

I think those females would be a great addition to Melbourne’s troop, which would probably see Kanzi move out as they arrived - given she has no future breeding application to Melbourne’s troop under Otana’s reign. Taronga would be her obvious destination; assuming Blackpool didn’t need a female in return. With three aunts having bred well in Europe, I doubt Kanzi would be of much value to their region.

Female gorillas are certainly hot on alloparenting. It was interesting at Prague to watch Shinda commandeer Kijivu’s infants; and Kamba reportedly adopted Kijivu’s last infant from early on. Meanwhile Mjuuku at London raised Effie’s son alongside her own. In Australasia, there was Mbeli’s unsuccessful attempts to take Fabumi off Frala in the early months; as well as Kriba now raising Kaius. Considering Kriba’s excellent maternal skills and her inability to conceive due to her age, Kaius has given her a new lease on life; and it mirrors Kriba and her own mother simultaneously rearing their respective infants in Kibabu’s troop. They were a close unit, forming the nucleus of that troop.

 

[Zoofan15]

Plains-wanderer rediscovered in Melbourne’s west for first time in more than 30 years:

From socials:

A big win for a little bird!

Using artificial intelligence, the elusive and Critically Endangered Australian endemic Plains-wanderer has been rediscovered roaming in Melbourne’s west for the first time in more than 30 years.

Zoos Victoria has deployed 35 audio recorders, known as ‘song meters’, in Victoria’s Volcanic Plains. Using a set of AI call recognisers designed by Museums Victoria Research Institute and Queensland University of Technology, the song meters are identifying the species’ unique calls where it was once abundant but not been recorded since 1989.

 

[Jaiden]

Does anyone know what would happen to the old Asian Elephant exhibit. Im hoping for a new Animal or a new Tiger exhibits or the Forest of Wonder gets a full revamp. But I probably won’t happen

 

[Zoofan15]

Does anyone know what would happen to the old Asian Elephant exhibit. Im hoping for a new Animal or a new Tiger exhibits or the Forest of Wonder gets a full revamp. But I probably won’t happen

With Brazilian tapir expected to be imported this year, the leading theory on here is a tapir in the bull elephant paddock; with an expansion of the orangutan facilties into the site of the elephant complex..

I’ll include a link to the speculation thread where we’ve been discussing this (and other ideas) in detail:

The Future of Zoos Victoria 2025 (Speculation/Fantasy) [Melbourne Zoo]

 

[Jaiden]

Thanks for the response @ZooFan1 I really appreciate it

 

[I ♥︎ Big Cats]

Hey! Long time reader first time contributor

Just wondering if anyone who has done the Snow Leopard experience with either Kang-Ju or Miska would be willing to share their experience of it? I’ve seen it mentioned but would love a brief run down of it - What did you do? Was it worth it?

Thanks!

 

[I ♥︎ Big Cats]

Hey! Long time reader first time contributor

Just wondering if anyone who has done the Snow Leopard experience with either Kang-Ju or Miska would be willing to share their experience of it? I’ve seen it mentioned but would love a brief run down of it - What did you do? Was it worth it?

Thanks!

Alternatively, if anyone could shed some light on the Tiger experience with Hutan or Indrah that would be great too!! thxxxx

 

[Zoofan15]

Hey! Long time reader first time contributor

Just wondering if anyone who has done the Snow Leopard experience with either Kang-Ju or Miska would be willing to share their experience of it? I’ve seen it mentioned but would love a brief run down of it - What did you do? Was it worth it?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks to @The Sleepy Hippo, we have the following account of the Snow leopard encounter (albeit mostly a much appreciated update on the Snow leopards):

I did the Snow Leopard Animal Encounter this morning - was potentially the best one I've done and I've done most.

We saw Mishka.

Mishka (0.1) is currently overweight. She is weighing 36kg and the preferred weight is 32kg. Kanju is weighing a healthy 40kg.

The reason Mishka is overweight was that for several months quality meat was scarce and what they were getting had a higher amount of fat. They are monitoring her weight and it is gradually getting back down.

No breeding is on the horizon. Due to being a part of the European breeding program, directions come from there, and there are no other holders in the region with room to house any cubs, and there is little interest from other zoos to take them on, and keepers suggested even some current holders are reconsidering due to the cost of housing them (primarily enclosure cooling is expensive to install and to run).

Today being quiet, we got the go ahead from higher up to include a behind the scenes walk to the historic abattoir where they used to bring live cattle to slaughter to feed the big cats. I took some photos. Might upload later on.

I’m sure @The Sleepy Hippo would be able to answer further questions on both this encounter and the tiger encounter if he’s done it.

 

[The Sleepy Hippo]

Alternatively, if anyone could shed some light on the Tiger experience with Hutan or Indrah that would be great too!! thxxxx

Tiger experience is with Hutan. It is the older tiger exhibit which is in the Forest of Wonder precinct. I am sure it varies from day to day what you experience, but you get taken back of house, see the BoH exhibits, see Hutan in his den while he does not have access to the enclosure. All doors between exhibits and back of house enclosures are electronically marked and it shows on a board what doors are open and which are locked. This is a safety precaution for keepers and containment.
You get to go into the exhibit. When you enter you are given a green token with a number on it. This is to return upon exit as a measure to guarantee all that enter do exit before Hutan is given back access. When in the enclosure you are guided around and shown features, and usually an enrichment is put in the enclosure (would vary).

When I went it was a couple of days into Hutan's feed, so he was guarding his kangaroo carcass inside his den and was not hugely keen on people viewing him. The facilities though old are really good, and its a shame that the only tigers we have are siblings, as Melbourne is well set up for breeding (even if the two display enclosures are nearly on opposite sides of the zoo.

 

[The Sleepy Hippo]

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks to @The Sleepy Hippo, we have the following account of the Snow leopard encounter:

I did the Snow Leopard Animal Encounter this morning - was potentially the best one I've done and I've done most.

We saw Mishka.

Mishka (0.1) is currently overweight. She is weighing 36kg and the preferred weight is 32kg. Kanju is weighing a healthy 40kg.

The reason Mishka is overweight was that for several months quality meat was scarce and what they were getting had a higher amount of fat. They are monitoring her weight and it is gradually getting back down.

No breeding is on the horizon. Due to being a part of the European breeding program, directions come from there, and there are no other holders in the region with room to house any cubs, and there is little interest from other zoos to take them on, and keepers suggested even some current holders are reconsidering due to the cost of housing them (primarily enclosure cooling is expensive to install and to run).

Today being quiet, we got the go ahead from higher up to include a behind the scenes walk to the historic abattoir where they used to bring live cattle to slaughter to feed the big cats. I took some photos. Might upload later on.

I’m sure @The Sleepy Hippo would be able to answer further questions on both this encounter and the tiger encounter if he’s done it.

Thanks @Zoofan15 - saved me searching for my account of the Snow Leopard encounter. Definitely a major highlight of my 5 week return to Melbourne last year!

 

[Zoofan15]

Thanks @Zoofan15 - saved me searching for my account of the Snow Leopard encounter. Definitely a major highlight of my 5 week return to Melbourne last year!

It would have been an incredible encounter to do. Snow leopards are such majestic animals and seeing them up close would have been breathtaking.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Melbourne’s elephants up close on my 2023 visit and it’s a memory I’ll never forget - especially seeing the matriachal herd rush into the barn; and touching Luk Chai’s rough hide and the spongy soles of his feet. It was the first time I’d met a bull elephant up close and to meet Australia’s first elephant calf was even more special. He’s grown into a magnificent bull.

I’ve reviewed my visit (including this experience) here in greater detail for anyone interested (Page 3):

Melbourne Zoo Review (November/December 2023) [Melbourne Zoo]

 

[The Sleepy Hippo]

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks to @The Sleepy Hippo, we have the following account of the Snow leopard encounter (albeit mostly a much appreciated update on the Snow leopards):

I did the Snow Leopard Animal Encounter this morning - was potentially the best one I've done and I've done most.

We saw Mishka.

Mishka (0.1) is currently overweight. She is weighing 36kg and the preferred weight is 32kg. Kanju is weighing a healthy 40kg.

The reason Mishka is overweight was that for several months quality meat was scarce and what they were getting had a higher amount of fat. They are monitoring her weight and it is gradually getting back down.

No breeding is on the horizon. Due to being a part of the European breeding program, directions come from there, and there are no other holders in the region with room to house any cubs, and there is little interest from other zoos to take them on, and keepers suggested even some current holders are reconsidering due to the cost of housing them (primarily enclosure cooling is expensive to install and to run).

Today being quiet, we got the go ahead from higher up to include a behind the scenes walk to the historic abattoir where they used to bring live cattle to slaughter to feed the big cats. I took some photos. Might upload later on.

I’m sure @The Sleepy Hippo would be able to answer further questions on both this encounter and the tiger encounter if he’s done it.

@I ♥︎ Big Cats with the encounter itself, we went behind the scenes along the service road that runs down the north eastern wall of the zoo, where we saw inside th historic abattoir, and then accessed the Carnivores trail and walked along the path into Small Cat Alley where there is a graffitied roller door. This was the access point to the Snow Leopard BoH. We saw the behind the scenes enclosure. The Snow Leopards like to hang out in that space, and both get access to it seperately, but are enriched by eachother's scents being in there. This is where we saw Mishka (0.1).

We additionally whilst behind the scenes were able to see her in the inbetween walkways. When she moved to that space, essentially following us she decided the best spot to lie down was in a puddle. From there, the same as the tiger experience, we were given a green token (these are numbered and hang next to the doors to the exhibit.

Once inside we got guided through the exhibit, shown features like scratchings Mishka has made in a space she was using as an outside den. This is where she would drag her food to eat in private. She was using a space that was rocky under a pine (?) tree. We were shown her food. Her portions were lower than what would be usual as she was overweight at the time (due to lower quality/more fatty meats that had been previosly available).

We had many opportunities for questions, and as I said in the previous post that @Zoofan15 linked, the keepers were really excited to have us as it was a limited time experience (only twice a week for 6 months, and we were one of the first). They showed us the cooling infrastructure, including newer cooling pads they had more recently installed. Their passion was great to see, and they truly made it one of the best zoo experiences I have had.

I must say it was surreal for me to be in Mishka's exhibit, as one of the exhibits I have the most vivid memories of at Melbourne Zoo growing up was the bears. After crossing the "bridge" above the Lions and Wild Dogs in Lion Park, we would descend and just a short walk away were the Syrian Brown Bears. We went to the zoo regularly as members as children, and this area, and the now demolished seal enclosures were the two areas I have clearest memories of and were my older brother and I's favourite parts to see. I stopped going for several years and when I finally returned, I went to go see the seal enclosure, and never did get to see it again, as this was when Wild Seas was under construction, and thus the old exhibit off display, and by then I daresay demolished.

Lion Park and the bear enclosures were still standing, but it was not long until they were gone as well. So to be able to be standing inside the old bear enclosure really was icing on the cake, on top of being able to be standing half a metre from Mishka, and being able to look her right in the eyes up close.
Their fur is absolutely beautiful, and looks really soft, but when we asked about it the keeper explained that their fur may look soft, but due to being meant to protect them from extreme colds and snow, is actually alot stiffer than it looks (I think that was the texture they said).

It was a wonderful experience that I was lucky to get to partake in. I currently live and work in Tanzania, and was returning for 5 weeks last July, and my mother is also a zoo member, and luckily saw the members email promoting the exclusive and limited experience, and she without asking me jumped on it and got us tickets (she knew me well enough to know it certainly was no problem!), and then in less than 48 hours it was soldout, before the general public even had access to buy tickets. The fastest selling experience/event in the zoos history!

I do hope they one day do make it a more regular experience as being one of the only holders in the region there it really is a selling point for Melbourne Zoo. (But as I've suggested before I do think they should invest in Snow Leopard exhibits in Kyabram, and make that the zoo to have up close Snow Leopard encounters)

If it wasn't obvious - if ever they do offer this experience again I highly recommend all here to jump on it quick smart!

 

[I ♥︎ Big Cats]

@I ♥︎ Big Cats with the encounter itself, we went behind the scenes along the service road that runs down the north eastern wall of the zoo, where we saw inside th historic abattoir, and then accessed the Carnivores trail and walked along the path into Small Cat Alley where there is a graffitied roller door. This was the access point to the Snow Leopard BoH. We saw the behind the scenes enclosure. The Snow Leopards like to hang out in that space, and both get access to it seperately, but are enriched by eachother's scents being in there. This is where we saw Mishka (0.1).

We additionally whilst behind the scenes were able to see her in the inbetween walkways. When she moved to that space, essentially following us she decided the best spot to lie down was in a puddle. From there, the same as the tiger experience, we were given a green token (these are numbered and hang next to the doors to the exhibit.

Once inside we got guided through the exhibit, shown features like scratchings Mishka has made in a space she was using as an outside den. This is where she would drag her food to eat in private. She was using a space that was rocky under a pine (?) tree. We were shown her food. Her portions were lower than what would be usual as she was overweight at the time (due to lower quality/more fatty meats that had been previosly available).

We had many opportunities for questions, and as I said in the previous post that @Zoofan15 linked, the keepers were really excited to have us as it was a limited time experience (only twice a week for 6 months, and we were one of the first). They showed us the cooling infrastructure, including newer cooling pads they had more recently installed. Their passion was great to see, and they truly made it one of the best zoo experiences I have had.

I must say it was surreal for me to be in Mishka's exhibit, as one of the exhibits I have the most vivid memories of at Melbourne Zoo growing up was the bears. After crossing the "bridge" above the Lions and Wild Dogs in Lion Park, we would descend and just a short walk away were the Syrian Brown Bears. We went to the zoo regularly as members as children, and this area, and the now demolished seal enclosures were the two areas I have clearest memories of and were my older brother and I's favourite parts to see. I stopped going for several years and when I finally returned, I went to go see the seal enclosure, and never did get to see it again, as this was when Wild Seas was under construction, and thus the old exhibit off display, and by then I daresay demolished.

Lion Park and the bear enclosures were still standing, but it was not long until they were gone as well. So to be able to be standing inside the old bear enclosure really was icing on the cake, on top of being able to be standing half a metre from Mishka, and being able to look her right in the eyes up close.
Their fur is absolutely beautiful, and looks really soft, but when we asked about it the keeper explained that their fur may look soft, but due to being meant to protect them from extreme colds and snow, is actually alot stiffer than it looks (I think that was the texture they said).

It was a wonderful experience that I was lucky to get to partake in. I currently live and work in Tanzania, and was returning for 5 weeks last July, and my mother is also a zoo member, and luckily saw the members email promoting the exclusive and limited experience, and she without asking me jumped on it and got us tickets (she knew me well enough to know it certainly was no problem!), and then in less than 48 hours it was soldout, before the general public even had access to buy tickets. The fastest selling experience/event in the zoos history!

I do hope they one day do make it a more regular experience as being one of the only holders in the region there it really is a selling point for Melbourne Zoo. (But as I've suggested before I do think they should invest in Snow Leopard exhibits in Kyabram, and make that the zoo to have up close Snow Leopard encounters)

If it wasn't obvious - if ever they do offer this experience again I highly recommend all here to jump on it quick smart!

Wow thank you guys so much for the responses! So much great information. Given that the Snow Leopard and the Tiger experiences are both $82 for members, are they both worth it? I know the Snow Leopard is more exclusive (it’s coming back shhh) but would we conclude that the tiger experience is still up there as a good one?

 

[I ♥︎ Big Cats]

@I ♥︎ Big Cats with the encounter itself, we went behind the scenes along the service road that runs down the north eastern wall of the zoo, where we saw inside th historic abattoir, and then accessed the Carnivores trail and walked along the path into Small Cat Alley where there is a graffitied roller door. This was the access point to the Snow Leopard BoH. We saw the behind the scenes enclosure. The Snow Leopards like to hang out in that space, and both get access to it seperately, but are enriched by eachother's scents being in there. This is where we saw Mishka (0.1).

We additionally whilst behind the scenes were able to see her in the inbetween walkways. When she moved to that space, essentially following us she decided the best spot to lie down was in a puddle. From there, the same as the tiger experience, we were given a green token (these are numbered and hang next to the doors to the exhibit.

Once inside we got guided through the exhibit, shown features like scratchings Mishka has made in a space she was using as an outside den. This is where she would drag her food to eat in private. She was using a space that was rocky under a pine (?) tree. We were shown her food. Her portions were lower than what would be usual as she was overweight at the time (due to lower quality/more fatty meats that had been previosly available).

We had many opportunities for questions, and as I said in the previous post that @Zoofan15 linked, the keepers were really excited to have us as it was a limited time experience (only twice a week for 6 months, and we were one of the first). They showed us the cooling infrastructure, including newer cooling pads they had more recently installed. Their passion was great to see, and they truly made it one of the best zoo experiences I have had.

I must say it was surreal for me to be in Mishka's exhibit, as one of the exhibits I have the most vivid memories of at Melbourne Zoo growing up was the bears. After crossing the "bridge" above the Lions and Wild Dogs in Lion Park, we would descend and just a short walk away were the Syrian Brown Bears. We went to the zoo regularly as members as children, and this area, and the now demolished seal enclosures were the two areas I have clearest memories of and were my older brother and I's favourite parts to see. I stopped going for several years and when I finally returned, I went to go see the seal enclosure, and never did get to see it again, as this was when Wild Seas was under construction, and thus the old exhibit off display, and by then I daresay demolished.

Lion Park and the bear enclosures were still standing, but it was not long until they were gone as well. So to be able to be standing inside the old bear enclosure really was icing on the cake, on top of being able to be standing half a metre from Mishka, and being able to look her right in the eyes up close.
Their fur is absolutely beautiful, and looks really soft, but when we asked about it the keeper explained that their fur may look soft, but due to being meant to protect them from extreme colds and snow, is actually alot stiffer than it looks (I think that was the texture they said).

It was a wonderful experience that I was lucky to get to partake in. I currently live and work in Tanzania, and was returning for 5 weeks last July, and my mother is also a zoo member, and luckily saw the members email promoting the exclusive and limited experience, and she without asking me jumped on it and got us tickets (she knew me well enough to know it certainly was no problem!), and then in less than 48 hours it was soldout, before the general public even had access to buy tickets. The fastest selling experience/event in the zoos history!

I do hope they one day do make it a more regular experience as being one of the only holders in the region there it really is a selling point for Melbourne Zoo. (But as I've suggested before I do think they should invest in Snow Leopard exhibits in Kyabram, and make that the zoo to have up close Snow Leopard encounters)

If it wasn't obvious - if ever they do offer this experience again I highly recommend all here to jump on it quick smart!

Omg I also remember the old bridge over the Lion enclosure but I convinced myself I was remembering incorrectly!!

 

[Zoofan15]

Wow thank you guys so much for the responses! So much great information. Given that the Snow Leopard and the Tiger experiences are both $82 for members, are they both worth it? I know the Snow Leopard is more exclusive (it’s coming back shhh) but would we conclude that the tiger experience is still up there as a good one?

I would consider $82 a fantastic price for a Snow leopard encounter. Some zoos charge more than that to have an encounter with a tortoise.

$82 is a fair price for a tiger encounter, but considering I’ve done a tiger encounter before at other zoos, the main attraction here would be seeing Melbourne’s big cat back of house facilties in the Trail of the Elephants precinct. That alone would be worth $82 for someone like me who loves historic exhibits.

 

[The Sleepy Hippo]

Wow thank you guys so much for the responses! So much great information. Given that the Snow Leopard and the Tiger experiences are both $82 for members, are they both worth it? I know the Snow Leopard is more exclusive (it’s coming back shhh) but would we conclude that the tiger experience is still up there as a good one?

I would say the tiger one is worth it myself. Others might disagree.

 

[Zoofan15]

Trail of the Elephants: A new home for the herd Documentary:

Episode 1 of the ongoing documentary series Trail of the Elephants: A new home for the herd will be screening on Zoos Victoria’s YouTube on Sunday (with more episodes to follow).

Want to get the inside scoop on how we moved nine Asian Elephants from Melbourne Zoo to Werribee Open Range Zoo?

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch "Trail of the Elephants: A new home for the herd", an ongoing documentary series about the monumental move.

Although the move has been comprehensively covered in the media and on socials, it’ll be interesting to hear the keepers perspectives; and in later episodes, hear first hand from staff how the elephants are settling in to their new habitat.

 

[Jambo]

Trail of the Elephants: A new home for the herd Documentary:

Episode 1 of the ongoing documentary series Trail of the Elephants: A new home for the herd will be screening on Zoos Victoria’s YouTube on Sunday (with more episodes to follow).

Want to get the inside scoop on how we moved nine Asian Elephants from Melbourne Zoo to Werribee Open Range Zoo?

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to catch "Trail of the Elephants: A new home for the herd", an ongoing documentary series about the monumental move.

Although the move has been comprehensively covered in the media and on socials, it’ll be interesting to hear the keepers perspectives; and in later episodes, hear first hand from staff how the elephants are settling in to their new habitat.

Got the opportunity to see a few snippets of the first episode when it was screened in person in Melbourne back in November via friends, and it did look really well put together and quite intriguing. It will be interesting to see the whole thing however - I'm glad they're putting it up on Youtube where everybody can watch.

The episode covers the elephants preparing for the move; with filming stretching all the way back to the calves births back in 2022. I think it will be equally intriguing to see those events in more depth and detail considering we didn't get much on socials at the time.

 

[Zoofan15]

Got the opportunity to see a few snippets of the first episode when it was screened in person in Melbourne back in November via friends, and it did look really well put together and quite intriguing. It will be interesting to see the whole thing however - I'm glad they're putting it up on Youtube where everybody can watch.

The episode covers the elephants preparing for the move; with filming stretching all the way back to the calves births back in 2022. I think it will be equally intriguing to see those events in more depth and detail considering we didn't get much on socials at the time.

It was my understanding the first episode would go back even further than that to the arrival of Luk Chai, which would be interesting to see given the significance of the event. A bull elephant successfully mating naturally with three cows (with all conceiving on the first cycle) is a regional first.

The cows were very enthusiastic about Luk Chai’s arrival (with Kulab been particularly interested in him), which will be interesting to revisit with talk of Perth’s bull receiving a similar welcome from Monarto’s cows later this year (albeit three of them being non-viable breeders). It’ll also be interesting to see the beginning of Luk Chai and Man Jai’s introductions and the bond that formed between them.