Melbourne Zoo or Werribee - which to visit?

NATY

NATY

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
I'm visiting Melbourne this December and I wonder whether I should go to Melbourne Zoo or Werribee. I've been to Melbourne Zoo before but didn't have much time to see much. I'd love to do both ideally but I'm not sure if there's time to do so in the situation where I can only visit one, which would be the better choice?
 
noobmaster69 said:
I'm visiting Melbourne this December and I wonder whether I should go to Melbourne Zoo or Werribee. I've been to Melbourne Zoo before but didn't have much time to see much. I'd love to do both ideally but I'm not sure if there's time to do so in the situation where I can only visit one, which would be the better choice?
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Definitely Melbourne Zoo. They have three Asian elephant calves due around the time of your visit!

Werribee Open Range Zoo has an exciting masterplan in the works, but this is still in progress and Melbourne Zoo is the better facility at this point in time imo. Give it another couple of years and it could well be roles reversed.

Species wise, Werribee doesn’t have a lot that Melbourne already has. Notable points of difference are Common hippopotamus, Southern white rhinoceros and Cheetah; while Melbourne has a multitude of different mammals like Western lowland gorilla, Sumatran orangutan, Pygmy hippopotamus, Sumatran tiger, Snow leopard, Hamadryas baboon, Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal, Black and white colobus etc.

If reptiles are your thing, you may be interested to know Melbourne Zoo hold 49 species of reptile versus four species held at Werribee.

Melbourne Zoo’s native collection is also better when you factor in birds, reptiles and amphibians, which may appeal to you as someone from outside the region.
 
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Zoofan15 said:
Species wise, Werribee doesn’t have a lot that Melbourne already has. Notable points of difference are Common hippopotamus, Southern white rhinoceros and Cheetah; while Melbourne has a multitude of different mammals like Western lowland gorilla, Sumatran orangutan, Pygmy hippopotamus, Sumatran tiger, Snow leopard, Hamadryas baboon, Australian fur seal, New Zealand fur seal, Black and white colobus etc.
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It's a real tough choice as Werribee has a lot of species I have never seen before like American bison, waterbuck, scimitar oryx, Przewalski's horse, dromedary camels and vervet monkeys but Melbourne has snow leopards and Philippine crocodiles for example
 
noobmaster69 said:
It's a real tough choice as Werribee has a lot of species I have never seen before like American bison, waterbuck, scimitar oryx, Przewalski's horse, dromedary camels and vervet monkeys but Melbourne has snow leopards and Philippine crocodiles for example
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While Melbourne is the better facility of the two, if you’ve already visited Melbourne before, then maybe try Werribee this time to see the species you’ve never seen. Considering most people are of the opinion Melbourne has declined in quality in recent years, you might even find yourself disappointed if expecting this visit to be as good as your previous visit.

Recommended visit times are Melbourne (3-4 hours) and Werribee (4 hours), so considering there’s a little over 30 minutes travel time between them, you could arguably see them both in one day. Personally, I’d rather take my time and visit them on seperate days.
 
Zoofan15 said:
While Melbourne is the better facility of the two, if you’ve already visited Melbourne before, then maybe try Werribee this time to see the species you’ve never seen. Considering most people are of the opinion Melbourne has declined in quality in recent years, you might even find yourself disappointed if expecting this visit to be as good as your previous visit.
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Yeah I genuinely didn't see much of Melbourne, only the elephant and gorilla trails and the lion enclosures iirc way back in 2015. Why is it considered a declining zoo tho?
 
noobmaster69 said:
Yeah I genuinely didn't see much of Melbourne, only the elephant and gorilla trails and the lion enclosures iirc way back in 2015. Why is it considered a declining zoo tho?
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The two main reasons are:

Phase outs - multiple species (especially felids) have been phased out over the past 10-15 years. A trend seen across several of the main zoos. Going back further (1980’s) and the zoo had a species list we can only dream of by today’s standards.

Boring precincts - Growing Wild is a children’s precinct (enough said), which takes up a significant part of the zoo; while the Carnivores precinct replaced the zoo’s incredible lion park and is viewed by many as unimaginative with a handful of mammals representing carnivores.
 
Zorro said:
Going by this list Werribee's collection looks somewhat poor!
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It really does. Their appeal lies solely with large exhibits displaying a mostly ungulate based collection - thought it’s worth noting that the giraffe herd is a bachelor herd of five bulls (versus breeding herds at the other open range zoos) and they’re the only open range zoo in the region not participating in the Australian Rhino Project.

The Asian elephant complex in 2024 will give them a much needed boost. At 22ha in size, it’s the same size as Melbourne Zoo and will be truly world class.
 
noobmaster69 said:
I'm visiting Melbourne this December and I wonder whether I should go to Melbourne Zoo or Werribee. I've been to Melbourne Zoo before but didn't have much time to see much. I'd love to do both ideally but I'm not sure if there's time to do so in the situation where I can only visit one, which would be the better choice?
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First off, are you staying in the city?

Werribee's a 20 minute drive from the city so it could be achievable I guess time wise.

Both zoos are really different, complimenting each other nicely, so it's hard for me to make a specific choice for which one you should go to.

Werribee can be about a four hour trip (if you take things at your own pace), and Melbourne can be maybe another hour or so.

Melbourne has a much more diverse collection; but Werribee has the Savannah feel to it.

If you've already visited Melbourne, I feel like Werribee might be the best way to go. It's a rather small zoo collection wise but is worth the visit.

If you really wanted, you could visit both in one day (albeit you'll be rushing a bit). You could get out to Werribee by opening time (10), be done by 12.30. Then make your way to Melbourne by 1, and you can spend four decent hours there.
 
Zoofan15 said:
It really does. Their appeal lies solely with large exhibits displaying a mostly ungulate based collection - thought it’s worth noting that the giraffe herd is a bachelor herd of five bulls (versus breeding herds at the other open range zoos) and they’re the only open range zoo in the region not participating in the Australian Rhino Project.

The Asian elephant complex in 2024 will give them a much needed boost. At 22ha in size, it’s the same size as Melbourne Zoo and will be truly world class.
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I have not visited Werribee but I have seen quite a few videos on YouTube of it, only going by a lot of videos it really doesn’t look very impressive actually easily the poorer of the open range zoos in the region. However with the new elephant complex it should take werribee to another level, I believe once its completed and animals settled it should become a powerhouse for Asian elephants
 
Zorro said:
I have not visited Werribee but I have seen quite a few videos on YouTube of it, only going by a lot of videos it really doesn’t look very impressive actually easily the poorer of the open range zoos in the region. However with the new elephant complex it should take werribee to another level, I believe once its completed and animals settled it should become a powerhouse for Asian elephants
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The elephant complex (and other developments) will certainly take Werribee up a notch. The elephant complex will see them become one of two breeding hubs in the region, with multiple bulls on site and a multigenerational herd.

Though it will be hard pushed to compete with what Monarto has planned, Werribee also have a Bison Savannah, Lion exhibit extension and Rhino Retreat to look forward to.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The elephant complex (and other developments) will certainly take Werribee up a notch. The elephant complex will see them become one of two breeding hubs in the region, with multiple bulls on site and a multigenerational herd.

Though it will be hard pushed to compete with what Monarto has planned, Werribee also have a Bison Savannah, Lion exhibit extension and Rhino Retreat to look forward to.
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A major plus for werribee is the caliber of the international consultants it has advising the project
 
Zorro said:
A major plus for werribee is the caliber of the international consultants it has advising the project
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This document highlights the effort that went into researching and designing Werribee’s elephant complex:

https://zoolex.org/media/uploads/2020/07/15/2018_werribee_elephant_report_summary.pdf

Among the management principles it will be following is a note that a 50-100 year succession plan will be developed, which will be updated every 5-10 years. The plan will include staff and director succession correlated to the long term evolution of the herd.

It will be amazing to see the herd develop over the decades to come - a far cry from the days when city zoos held a pair of non breeding female elephants.
 
Zoofan15 said:
This document highlights the effort that went into researching and designing Werribee’s elephant complex:

https://zoolex.org/media/uploads/2020/07/15/2018_werribee_elephant_report_summary.pdf

Among the management principles it will be following is a note that a 50-100 year succession plan will be developed, which will be updated every 5-10 years. The plan will include staff and director succession correlated to the long term evolution of the herd.

It will be amazing to see the herd develop over the decades to come - a far cry from the days when city zoos held a pair of non breeding female elephants.
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I believe a lot will depend on the upcoming births expected at Melbourne and the number of female calfs resulting
 
Zorro said:
I believe a lot will depend on the upcoming births expected at Melbourne and the number of female calfs resulting
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Priority will be to develop a matrilineal line from Num Oi, who currently has no living female descendants. If she gives birth to a male calf, I anticipate we’ll see her re-enter the breeding programme sooner rather than later.

Long term, Werribee’s herd will descend from just two founder females. It’ll be interesting to see if long term, more females are added (either reproductive aged females like Pak Boon; or post reproductive females like Burma and Permai), but it’s not hard to see Werribee will be keen not to rock the boat given they have a cohesive herd.
 
Zorro said:
Would there be a known date for breaking ground for the project yet
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@Jambo reported last month that foundation work has begun with land being cleared out and steel poles brought it. The target completion date is late 2023/early 2024 - with the elephants likely to start arriving from the start of 2024.

Interestingly, Werribee’s Bison exhibit was noted to be at a similar stage of development, indicating Werribee have prioritised the elephant complex (understandable given the pressures on the exhibit at Melbourne). As with many projects, Covid has delayed things.
 
Zoofan15 said:
@Jambo reported last month that foundation work has begun with land being cleared out and steel poles brought it. The target completion date is late 2023/early 2024 - with the elephants likely to start arriving from the start of 2024.

Interestingly, Werribee’s Bison exhibit was noted to be at a similar stage of development, indicating Werribee have prioritised the elephant complex (understandable given the pressures on the exhibit at Melbourne). As with many projects, Covid has delayed things.
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It would appear one of the lakes at werribee would be bigger than the whole of Taronga's elephant exhibit.
 
Zorro said:
It would appear one of the lakes at werribee would be bigger than the whole of Taronga's elephant exhibit.
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The standard of Werribee’s new complex is incomparable to Melbourne Zoo (and Taronga Zoo).

It’s interesting to see the evolution of elephant exhibit standards over the last two decades. The days of Taronga and Melbourne’s elephant exhibits were numbered as soon as the Thai cows arrived - with breeding being more successful than we every could have imagined.
 
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