Could you ask what they are doing if anything about getting another Pygmy Hippo?
Melbourne Zoo Melbourne Zoo News 2025
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
-
- Tags
- melbourne zoo
Yes please, @Swanson02:
1. What are their long term plans for Sumatran tigers? With an ageing pair of 15 year old siblings, it’s not hard to imagine the zoo could be without tigers within the next five years. I’d be interested to know what interest (if any) there is in importing a breeding pair or whether new tigers would be sourced from within the region.
2. Is Iris the giraffe pregnant? Having seen photos of their younger female giraffe, she appeared to be pregnant. It would be good to have confirmation of this and an estimation of a due date.
3. Is their male Collared peccary desexed? I’ve come across a document that states he is; but a volunteer advised me he was intact and it was the females that were on contraception. I suspect the latter was incorrect, but would be good to know.
4. Is Kasmut the Hamadryas baboon pregnant? Are any of the other female baboons (e.g. Quetesh) planned to breed?
5. Are any of the five male baboons vasectomised:
1.0 Jabari (2010) Imported 2012 (USA)
1.0 Azizi (2010) Imported 2012 (USA)
1.0 Melako (2017) Jabari x Macey
1.0 Quimby (2018) Unknown x Qetesh
1.0 Quill (2019) Unknown x Qetesh
6. Have Mbeli or Johari the Western lowland gorillas been taken off contraception?
7. What are the plans for the redevelopment of TOTE (in particular, the elephant paddocks)?
The Sleepy Hippo
Well-Known Member
An ambitious final question!
@Swanson02 , Go for the Scoop!!!
And enjoy the zoo, lovely weather for it today 
An ambitious final question!
@Swanson02 , Go for the Scoop!!!
The multimillion dollar question anybody has yet to receive a concrete answer to!
Considering the elephant’s departure was close to a decade in the planning, I’d like to think Zoos Victoria has come up with something that will impress us.
JM01
Well-Known Member
Sorry if this is inappropriate to ask here (I can delete it if so) but I was hoping to ask for some advice on being involved with Zoos Victoria? I've wanted to be an exotic mammal keeper for a long time now (especially at Zoos Victoria) but I'm starting to feel like it's an unrealistic goal because of how competitive it is to get a career at Zoos Vic. Would there be any other ways to get involved? Has anyone here volunteered at Melbourne Zoo, what was the experience like for you? I'm also interested to here how people here satisfy their love for zoos if they aren't employed by them?
From friends I’ve spoke to, industry based experienced is invaluable and will make you stand out from other candidates in what is an extremely competitive industry. Obvious ways to gain practical experience are through studying courses that offer this as part of the curriculum.
Volunteering is a double edged sword. In most cases, volunteer positions are strictly hands off with regards to animal husbandry and thus have little direct to your CV; however, the connections you have the potential to make can be extremely useful. A volunteer with a good attitude may well be considered if a paid position comes up and they meet most (but not all) of the criteria.
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
Visited Melbourne Zoo this afternoon for a quick three-hour visit while waiting around for our car. It was a lot quieter than Werribee. As someone who’s historically not been a huge fan of Melbourne Zoo, I’ll admit it wasn’t all that bad this time. The place does feel a bit empty though, with multiple vacant exhibits and the gaping hole left by the Trail of the Elephants.
Had chats with two keepers: the Sumatran tiger keeper after his talk, and a very friendly gorilla keeper right at closing.
Sumatran Tigers – Long-term Plans?
I asked (politely!) about the age of the current pair and what the long-term plan is. The keeper mostly said they’re focusing on these two for now and that the zoo “expects to have tigers in the future.”
It felt a bit short-sighted to me, but that’s all I could get out of them.
Is Iris the Giraffe Pregnant?
I couldn’t confirm anything officially, but Iris was noticeably more bloated than the other cow. I’d confidently say she’s pregnant based on appearance alone. If not… she’s either got compaction or twisted bowels, which wouldn’t end well—so I’m leaning toward pregnancy.
Mbeli and Johari – Off Contraception?
Didn't ask the keeper outright whether either female has been taken off contraception.
We had a great chat while watching Frala and Kanzi lying together, and she did cheekily suggest that my gf and I “come back next Christmas to see an infant.” Draw your own conclusions from that one.
Trail of the Elephants Redevelopment?
No one, two keepers or one volunteer had anything solid to share. I was told the main barrier was funding. For now it’s bugs and (eventually) the ropes course until state gov money appears which wont be for a while given the 88 mil elephant complex at Werribee.
I mentioned rhinos as a possibility and Taronga’s plans, but the response was that transporting a rhino into Melbourne Zoo would be too difficult and the noisey environment would not be good for them? Both the tiger and gorilla keepers said the zoo wants more “Fighting Extinction” themed content in that area, whatever that may end up being. Hopefully a big ticket exotic, people don't come to zoos to see Corroboree frogs and plains wanderers unfortunately.
Had chats with two keepers: the Sumatran tiger keeper after his talk, and a very friendly gorilla keeper right at closing.
Sumatran Tigers – Long-term Plans?
I asked (politely!) about the age of the current pair and what the long-term plan is. The keeper mostly said they’re focusing on these two for now and that the zoo “expects to have tigers in the future.”
It felt a bit short-sighted to me, but that’s all I could get out of them.
Is Iris the Giraffe Pregnant?
I couldn’t confirm anything officially, but Iris was noticeably more bloated than the other cow. I’d confidently say she’s pregnant based on appearance alone. If not… she’s either got compaction or twisted bowels, which wouldn’t end well—so I’m leaning toward pregnancy.
Mbeli and Johari – Off Contraception?
Didn't ask the keeper outright whether either female has been taken off contraception.
We had a great chat while watching Frala and Kanzi lying together, and she did cheekily suggest that my gf and I “come back next Christmas to see an infant.” Draw your own conclusions from that one.
Trail of the Elephants Redevelopment?
No one, two keepers or one volunteer had anything solid to share. I was told the main barrier was funding. For now it’s bugs and (eventually) the ropes course until state gov money appears which wont be for a while given the 88 mil elephant complex at Werribee.
I mentioned rhinos as a possibility and Taronga’s plans, but the response was that transporting a rhino into Melbourne Zoo would be too difficult and the noisey environment would not be good for them? Both the tiger and gorilla keepers said the zoo wants more “Fighting Extinction” themed content in that area, whatever that may end up being. Hopefully a big ticket exotic, people don't come to zoos to see Corroboree frogs and plains wanderers unfortunately.
Thank you for the update and for taking the time to answer a number of our questions.
Iris definitely looked pregnant in the photos I saw of her, so hopefully we’ll hear news in the coming months that she’s delivered her first calf.
With regards to the Sumatran tigers, I guess that’s fair considering nobody knows how long they’ll live for. In an extreme case, they could go for another eight years, but 2-5 years is more likely. With Melbourne’s facilities, I’d like to see them import a breeding pair from either Europe, Japan or North America.
It sounds like Mbeli the gorilla (and possibly Johari) was on contraceptive pills rather than the implant. Pregnancy is only eight months and there’s clearly confidence around a birth within the next 12 months.
I’m disappointed they clearly have nothing of note planned for redeveloping the elephant paddocks. Ultimately Zoos Victoria will only receive so much funding and the elephant complex at Werribee has been prioritised over all other projects.
NathanTheAsian
Well-Known Member
I've finished my exams so I was finally able to make a visit again and obtained confirmation that Iris is in fact pregnant, and we can expect another calf by january.
Aside from that some very minor updates:
Aside from that some very minor updates:
- Part of the gorilla trail is closed at the entrance due to tree clearing
- Theres some renovations happening in the area between Kang Ju and Indrah's exhibit
- After ghosting me 5 times in a row, Indrah finally showed herself and was very active, even more so than usual.
Fantastic news and as we all suspected. It’ll be great to see two giraffe calves just five months apart in age.
Fingers crossed for a safe delivery of Iris’ first calf.
Thank you for the update, Its sounds a little underwhelming to be honest as it was mentioned a day or so ago that the zoo has had "ten" years to think about what they would want to do with the elephant exhibit area, maybe time for a new kids playground?
Great news! Fingers crossed for a successful birth and a healthy calf come the start of next year.
Melbourne's large exhibit could certainly do with a large herd of giraffes, so a female to continue growing the herd would be preferable.
It'll also be the first time in over three decades that Melbourne has had more than one giraffe calf at a time, which will be an exciting sight to see. With Tambi's popularity, I can only imagine how popular him and a younger sibling will end up being, especially if this calf is born during the summer holidays!
The Sleepy Hippo
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't be too disheartened. Keepers might be in the dark to what is currently planned, and as they are awaiting funding (and it will not be cheap whatever it is), having 10 years to plan doesn't change the monetary outlook.Thank you for the update, Its sounds a little underwhelming to be honest as it was mentioned a day or so ago that the zoo has had "ten" years to think about what they would want to do with the elephant exhibit area, maybe time for a new kids playground?
I will say though that TOTE is not the location for Fighting Extinction displays (assuming they are referring to the 20 priority species). The place for that is Growing Wild and Australian Bush.
I think if they had exciting plans for the space we’d know it by now, honestly. With elephants moving to Werribee as the centrepiece of the Werribee funding, it would have made sense to include any funds for repurposing TotE as part of that appropriation.
Not necessarily, funding really soured following the pandemic, and since then, the funding that was given for the completion of the elephant trail at Werribee was about as much as the state government was willing allocate at that point in time.
Werribee's planned elephant precinct wasn't even able to be completed in it's entirety - the waterhole precinct and the sky safari are two concepts that never eventuated due to a lack of funding.
So with that in mind, Zoos Vic will ultimately have to secure funding again for their next big redevelopment. It'll be interesting to see whether they go with continuing the Werribee masterplan, or securing something for the elephant replacement. It really depends where priorities lie on the senior management level.
You don’t understand, I’m saying if they had specific plans for the space that required major capital works (rather than, say, Indian rhinos for which the existing exhibit is already more than sufficient) they would have announced those as part of the broader package of works at Werribee. That would have been an attractive option for the Vic Gov as well, as it enables them to spruik improvements at both sites and appeal to a broader section of the community.
My guess is they were looking at rhinos (hence no capital works as part of the Werribee plan) but just haven’t been able to source any from overseas. Taronga had the luxury of an excess male at Dubbo - Zoos Vic doesn’t have that.
My guess is they were looking at rhinos (hence no capital works as part of the Werribee plan) but just haven’t been able to source any from overseas. Taronga had the luxury of an excess male at Dubbo - Zoos Vic doesn’t have that.
The Sleepy Hippo
Well-Known Member
I do understand what you are saying, but I disagree.
They announced the Elephant plan when that required building still. That was several years. They would not have announced then what would then replace elephants as that would be only able to even commence after the elephants had left.
I am sure that if economics hadn't soured, and the $88million had covered what it was meant to rather than the scaled back precinct that potentially an announcement would be made a short while after elephants had left.
As it happened it was clear funding would not be coming any time soon, so why would they announce plans for something they really don't have any clear idea as to when it can eventuate.
I don't think rhinos necessarily were ever on the cards, as the keepers indicated the noise in the area was not conducive for rhinos (seeing as the enclosures back into a tramline and the State Hockey and Netball centre).
This is incorrect. The project was announced in 2020.