Monarto Safari Park Monarto zoo's new size

[MARK]

Good news for Monarto zoo with the big increase in size adding another 450 hectares now making it 1450 hectares all up,the land added was adjacent to the zoo grounds. Plans for the African section of an 80 hectare enclosure will give the animals lots of running room for a number of species.

I feel Monarto zoo will be the open range zoo to watch in the furture with some big plans. It must be one of the largest zoo's in the world now in land area.

 

[phoenix]

well, more space is fine but it doesn't mean much unless...

a) you can get your hands on animals to fill that space, and we all know how hard it is to get an antelope around here!

b) you have the people to come visit.

i agree monarto has got a very bright future. i also think western plains is sadly a sinking ship. but if we mean "the one to watch" as in the zoo set to take the lead as australia's premier open range zoo - then i think the zoo poised to take that title is werribee.

compared to monarto, werribee still also have a large amount of undeveloped land at their disposal. also, i've only seen photos of the other two open range zoos, but werribee have some damn nice land at that. the way taronga beats melbourne on topography, i reckon werribee beats all other open range zoos. not that i have faith they'll do it - but that zoo could get a DAK worthy makeover.

but most importantly - werribee have three times the population of adelaide just 45mins away.

and a massive amount of animals at their disposal, like elephants. zoos SA currently have more stock at their open range zoo - but from what i gather its all low key cheaper developments, like at dubbo. werribee have far less animals, but the ones they do have are high profile and have big a-grade immersion style habitats - like the hippos. surely that exhibit is worth ten cyclone-fenced carnivore exhibits.

they have also made significant progress with immersion landscaping, and that counts for a lot. thats an aweful lot of work. the way i see it, werribee dont have much at present, but really strong foundations. their poised to kinda just smash it in the lead stakes because they have done much of the hard stuff already. in the next ten years i see elephants, gorillas (not that i'm happy about that) chimps and all the other little monkeys and stuff moving out there.

so, based on potential alone, and i'm not being biased, werribee is gotta take an unbeatable lead eventually. just based on location to melbourne alone....

 

[PAT]

I like where Monarto is headed...It has a lot of cool species (hyeanas) and more variety then Werribee. I've never visited though and can't make a proper judgement so I'll just agree with Phoenix that Werribee is amazing.

 

[snowleopard]

I remember reading a news article about the additional land, and it was stated that Monarto was now the largest open-range zoo on the planet. With the chimps in place and the African Savanna in the works the future is indeed quite bright, but Werribee has a massive amount of potential as long as the nonstop, incessant rumours of progress actually have shreds of truth to them. Taronga Western Plains Zoo out in Dubbo is simply 6 hours too far away to ever be more than moderately successful in terms of attendance.

 

[Jarkari]

I remember reading a news article about the additional land, and it was stated that Monarto was now the largest open-range zoo on the planet. With the chimps in place and the African Savanna in the works the future is indeed quite bright, but Werribee has a massive amount of potential as long as the nonstop, incessant rumours of progress actually have shreds of truth to them. Taronga Western Plains Zoo out in Dubbo is simply 6 hours too far away to ever be more than moderately successful in terms of attendance.

Dubbo was not originally meant to ben o e pubc, it was after the locals requested this, . When Dubbo City Council gets of it's arse and stops arguing about who should foot the bill for airport runway extansions I think numbers could potentially double (it currently costs between $150 and $500 return between dubbo and Sydney, however virgin has expressed interest in flying out there which could bring fares down to as low as $40)

I wonder if the news article you read took into account both of Taronga Western Plains Zoos Properties or just the main zoo site.

 

[snowleopard]

Here is the link declaring Monarto to be the world's largest open-range zoo:

Monarto Zoo expansion will make world's biggest open range zoo | National News | News.com.au

 

[PAT]

I remember reading a news article about the additional land, and it was stated that Monarto was now the largest open-range zoo on the planet. With the chimps in place and the African Savanna in the works the future is indeed quite bright, but Werribee has a massive amount of potential as long as the nonstop, incessant rumours of progress actually have shreds of truth to them. Taronga Western Plains Zoo out in Dubbo is simply 6 hours too far away to ever be more than moderately successful in terms of attendance.

I went on a long weekend in June and it was packed...All the other people on the tour had come from Sydney for the long weekend and were staying in the safari style accomodation at Western Plains Zoo. I think it would make an alright long weekend getaway from Sydney (not Bendigo )