Werribee Open Range Zoo Werribee Open Range Zoo News 2023

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PaddyRickMFZ said:
It could be expanded species wise though, yes? Sable and Kudu already in the works and would fit right in at WORZ.
It’s just the mixture of northern hemisphere animals that alway gets me. What else could there be? I feel like at this stage it’s probably not gonna happen. Also, where are these exhibits being expanded to because at this stage I believe they’re smaller than they’re current exhibits
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Sure they can, they had both these species before, The field exhibits I recall at the San Diego Safari park are 100 acres each. In my view I believe the lack of species here has almost always been underwhelming and may of been the reason why in the past they had Asian water buffalo in the African exhibit as stand ins for Cape buffalos. ;)
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
It could be expanded species wise though, yes? Sable and Kudu already in the works and would fit right in at WORZ.
It’s just the mixture of northern hemisphere animals that alway gets me. What else could there be? I feel like at this stage it’s probably not gonna happen. Also, where are these exhibits being expanded to because at this stage I believe they’re smaller than they’re current exhibits
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More species can and should definitely be added. I feel like Werribee’s lower Savannah is severely under-utilised with the amount of species they currently have.

The current Upper Savannah is going to be expanded to accomodate additional rhinos; apart of the rhino retreat. The viewing trail will apparently expand up here, so I’m hopeful this could be another location for new species as well.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Yes, additional species could certainly be integrated into the savannah exhibits. Most bull antelopes are territorial (sitatunga is an exception), so there’s that to factor in; as well as eliminating the possibility of antelopes hybridising e.g. kudu and nyala. However, both these issues can be addressed via seperate housing of the bulls.

I’d personally like to see Indian antelope mixed with the Asian elephants, in addition to the anticipated/speculated nilgai. These two antelope cohabit in the wild and there’s sufficient space across the 21ha complex to manage both species in addition to the elephants. It’ll take a while to fill all five paddocks with elephants, so it’ll bring life to the complex in the meantime.
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Would separate housing if the bulls work in similar fashion to Nyala, with the bulls somewhat off display? It’s be nice to see the bulls in exhibits on the walking trail, while the females, namely kudu, held on safari. Would it make sense to hold the female kudu and both sitatunga in the waterhole, with sable antelope of no Ty gender on the lower Savannah. They shouldn’t be able to breed with oryx, yes?
 
Jambo said:
More species can and should definitely be added. I feel like Werribee’s lower Savannah is severely under-utilised with the amount of species they currently have.

The current Upper Savannah is going to be expanded to accomodate additional rhinos; apart of the rhino retreat. The viewing trail will apparently expand up here, so I’m hopeful this could be another location for new species as well.
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I’m hopeful that Werribee will benefit from the Australian Rhino Project. Even if they’re not an initial receiver of the rhinos like Orana, Dubbo and Monarto, it won’t be long before first generation rhinos are being bred from these founders; and then Werribee will be in a position to acquire some. They’re essentially reduced to a 1.1 breeding pair, which is well below what you’d expect for an open range zoo with their facilities.
 
Zorro said:
Sure they can, they had both these species before, The field exhibits I recall at the San Diego Safari park are 100 acres each. In my view I believe the lack of species here has almost always been underwhelming and may of been the reason why in the past they had Asian water buffalo in the African exhibit as stand ins for Cape buffalos. ;)
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Congo buffalo would cause less conflict than cape, would be easier to source and be more visually appealing
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’m hopeful that Werribee will benefit from the Australian Rhino Project. Even if they’re not an initial receiver of the rhinos like Orana, Dubbo and Monarto, it won’t be long before first generation rhinos are being bred from these founders; and then Werribee will be in a position to acquire some. They’re essentially reduced to a 1.1 breeding pair, which is well below what you’d expect for an open range zoo with their facilities.
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They said they wanted ‘mobs of animals’ in the master plan and with the rhino retreat, I certainly see them as a destination
 
Jambo said:
More species can and should definitely be added. I feel like Werribee’s lower Savannah is severely under-utilised with the amount of species they currently have.

The current Upper Savannah is going to be expanded to accomodate additional rhinos; apart of the rhino retreat. The viewing trail will apparently expand up here, so I’m hopeful this could be another location for new species as well.
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New species… probably something already housed at the zoo that’s been shuffled around if I was to guess. I really hope the bison and Mongolian horse exhibits have been expanded
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Would separate housing if the bulls work in similar fashion to Nyala, with the bulls somewhat off display? It’s be nice to see the bulls in exhibits on the walking trail, while the females, namely kudu, held on safari. Would it make sense to hold the female kudu and both sitatunga in the waterhole, with sable antelope of no Ty gender on the lower Savannah. They shouldn’t be able to breed with oryx, yes?
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Yes, the bulls would be held in seperate exhibits, either off display; or preferably on the walking trails like you describe. It’d be nice to see them, but preference on the safari shuttle would be given to cows and young, which can be housed in larger groups.

Sitatunga and kudu can hybridise sadly, so no, they couldn’t hold opposing genders together. Sitatunga could be housed with large ungulates.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’m hopeful that Werribee will benefit from the Australian Rhino Project. Even if they’re not an initial receiver of the rhinos like Orana, Dubbo and Monarto, it won’t be long before first generation rhinos are being bred from these founders; and then Werribee will be in a position to acquire some. They’re essentially reduced to a 1.1 breeding pair, which is well below what you’d expect for an open range zoo with their facilities.
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Werribee’s in a very difficult situation; especially as their only breeding female was hand raised and has struggled raising calves of her own. I would hope Werribee have taken the imitative and have at least looked to acquire one or two cows apart of this new import. I would hate for Werribee’s program to lack behind the other open range facilities for an even longer period of time.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Yes, the bulls would be held in seperate exhibits, either off display; or preferably on the walking trails like you describe. It’d be nice to see them, but preference on the safari shuttle would be given to cows and young, which can be housed in larger groups.

Sitatunga and kudu can hybridise sadly, so no, they couldn’t hold opposing genders together. Sitatunga could be housed with large ungulates.
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So sitatunga, kudu and Nyala females could all be seen in the safari, with only the males of each species along. A walking trail. I feel like the waterhole exhibit would be best suited to this
 
Zoofan15 said:
I’m hopeful that Werribee will benefit from the Australian Rhino Project. Even if they’re not an initial receiver of the rhinos like Orana, Dubbo and Monarto, it won’t be long before first generation rhinos are being bred from these founders; and then Werribee will be in a position to acquire some. They’re essentially reduced to a 1.1 breeding pair, which is well below what you’d expect for an open range zoo with their facilities.
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I am surprised Werribee have let things slide as far as they have with their rhinos. If they wanted more for a refreshed herd they are not that uncommon to acquire world wide from zoos. Or perhaps the ones in the game farm in South Africa that are up for sale all 2000 of them? :D
 
Zorro said:
I am surprised Werribee have let things slide as far as they have with their rhinos. If they wanted more for a refreshed herd they are not that uncommon to acquire world wide from zoos. Or perhaps the ones in the game farm in South Africa that are up for sale all 2000 of them? :D
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Exactly!
On another note, the waterbuck on safari are rarely visible either so it makes the exhibit seem even more lacklustre in terms of species. Let’s hope they speed up that import
 
Zoofan15 said:
We can’t rule out Asian water buffalo being housed in the Asian elephant complex. They’d be compatible with Indian antelope and would assist in filling vacant exhibits for the next decade or so.
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I’d actually love that, and I’d love to see them housed not just temporarily too. U don’t know anyone who doesn’t find buffalo somewhat interesting
 
Zorro said:
I am surprised Werribee have let things slide as far as they have with their rhinos. If they wanted more for a refreshed herd they are not that uncommon to acquire world wide from zoos. Or perhaps the ones in the game farm in South Africa that are up for sale all 2000 of them? :D
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Tbh I’m thinking the 35 imported via the Australian Rhino Project will supply us with more founders than we can make use of. Females at San Diego have produced in excess of 15 calves in their lifespan and since we don’t have North America’s capacity, breeding will be limited. Zoos like Werribee will be invaluable in taking up the first generation offspring produced.
PaddyRickMFZ said:
So sitatunga, kudu and Nyala females could all be seen in the safari, with only the males of each species along. A walking trail. I feel like the waterhole exhibit would be best suited to this
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Yes, that would work well.
 
PaddyRickMFZ said:
Exactly!
On another note, the waterbuck on safari are rarely visible either so it makes the exhibit seem even more lacklustre in terms of species. Let’s hope they speed up that import
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They only have a small group; which probably explains why they’re hard to spot.

I do like the fact they have access to the natural marshes beside the Werribee river though, so I’m not really going to say this is a bad thing. Makes for amazing viewing when they are visible.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Tbh I’m thinking the 35 imported via the Australian Rhino Project will supply us with more founders than we can make use of. Females at San Diego have produced in excess of 15 calves in their lifespan and since we don’t have North America’s capacity, breeding will be limited. Zoos like Werribee will be invaluable in taking up the first generation offspring produced.


Yes, that would work well.
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Does that mean having a breeding herd of sable wouldn’t interbreed with eland, oryx or waterbuck in the lower Savannah?
 
Jambo said:
They only have a small group; which probably explains why they’re hard to spot.

I do like the fact they have access to the natural marshes beside the Werribee river though, so I’m not really going to say this is a bad thing. Makes for amazing viewing when they are visible.
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Honestly, most of the time they’re in the rhino mud wallows or sitting. Under some trees. They’re naturally timid, so I’d like to see a way in which they explore more of their exhibit
 
Zoofan15 said:
Tbh I’m thinking the 35 imported via the Australian Rhino Project will supply us with more founders than we can make use of. Females at San Diego have produced in excess of 15 calves in their lifespan and since we don’t have North America’s capacity, breeding will be limited. Zoos like Werribee will be invaluable in taking up the first generation offspring produced.


Yes, that would work well.
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Don't forget there are more zoos that would like rhinos than just 3 open range zoos ,we have a host of regional zoos now that are more than likely love to have them, also Australia Zoo may need new animals and have the room to do so.
 
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