Melbourne Zoo my visit to Melbourne

[jay]

I have just spent a very enjoyable day at Melbourne, the purpose of which was to see the new elephants and the orang exhibit. I am very impressed with the orangs. It fits in well with the whole SEAR zone, which flows nicely together and seeing the herd of elephants was great. I noticed that Mek Kapah tends to be a little stand offish from the other three but that's understandable I feel. The elephants were rotated round the three paddocks. Bong Su was on his own in the bull paddock in the morning while the girls were in the main paddock (withthe large swimming pool) Two of the younger cows were having a ball in the water, really fun to watch. Later they were rotated with the cows in the bull paddock and Bong Su in the main one. Part of the zoos atte,pts to vary the animals day I guess.

The new exhibits were defiantely the hit of the day with the other visitors. I found though that the rest of the zoo looked a bit daggy and forlorn in comparison, especially the African Rainforest walk. Walking past the empty pits, then seeing the empty and dry half of the pygmy exhibit was really sad.

The female white cheeked gibbon looked fatter than I remember seeing her before, fingers crossed that there may be a baby on the way.

I had a really enjoyable chat with a carnivore keeper over in the NE (?) section of the zoo, where all the cats are. The zoo is importing a male snow leopard for their young female (not one of the cubs born at Mogo/Taronga - the zoo wants to create another bloodline - good news). Maned wolves are definately here to stay, the zoo are getting a female and the region is not going to pahese out them and Pat - just for you, the keepers are trying hard to convince management that jaguars are worth having!

This whole area is likely to be the region to be redevoloped in the future, after the seals - it defiantely needs it. The zoo is currently looking at what species to have and the keepers are really pushing for what they want. Maned wolves, jaguars and clouded leopards.

I had a great day and really am envious of those whoe live near and can visit regularly, Australias excellent zoos.

 

[Zoo_Boy]

hay guys i found something cool, i have been meaning to put it up for yonks

its pretty kool though, also i recommend every1 checks out google earth, you can see every austrlian zoo in crystal clear images from above, it even looks like some have been uploaded jsut for our skae of zoos, eg dubbo isnt done, its still crap resolution, but just the zoo is perfect, you can also see what we are talking about by doing a trail to the giraffe exhibit

 

[patrick]

thats such great news jason! often we come to the conclusion that we agree if only management listened to the keepers a little more often.

i'm pretty critical of exhibits and zoo related stuff (sure thats no shock for you guys though!) and i was suprised at how much i enjoyed the new orang habitat, despite the fact that it was un-natural in certain ways. i suppose i just couldn't get over how much not only the public seemed to enjoy it, but how much the animals did. even the saimangs seemed utterly content as they sat watching the people against the glass, cradling their newborn.

the elephants are rotated constantly, which is great. they are very good at moving them around, and whilst i have always argued my "elephants = open-range" beliefs, i cant deny that at lest bong su and kapah, have been clearly sooooo much more happy and healthy since they moved. the other day when i saw kapah swaying as she stood facinated by her new companions, i realised i hadn't seen her do it once, not once, since she moved into her new home. and this is an elephant who used to do it quite a bit....

bong su on the other hand seems (knock on wood) to have overcome his very serious re-surfacing foot condition and enjoys sleeping in sanpiles in the sun with what appears to be a smile on his face.

apparently he and kapah are to be separated from now on as a recent incident saw him almost drown kapah in the pool! surely not always, but i maybe they will avoid putting them in the deep pool area from now on. suey is apparently in musth so he might have just been a little frustrated!

on the white-cheeked gibbons jay, unfortunately i think that pot belly is likely to have more to do with age that pregnancy. a few years back i overheard a guide telling guests that the female was diabetic and was kept on contraceptives as being pregnant was not good for her health.

 

[Coquinguy]

since the orang sanctuary opened has the pathway that used to lead from the javan peafowl aviary back to the vegie garden been closed, so people have no choice but to continue walking to the orangs? or is it still open?

 

[patrick]

its closed. i think just to not confuse disorientated visitors. however a second pathway is open from from the lake to the peafowl aviary, that allows visitors to detour the elephants and go straight to the orangutans or vice-versa. it gives you a chance to get up close with the pelicans, though a immersion-themed sign reading "palm-oil plantation - staff only" seems to put people off from entering (however visitors are welcome to use it though).

 

[jay]

That sign put me off the first time, I was almost heading there. Afterwards I disregarded it and almost ran a keeper down, he laughed and got out off my way! Had a great chat with him later.