Werribee Open Range Zoo Werribee Open Range Zoo News 2025

austrlain zoo gower said:
First Look at Elephant Complex! It looks great!

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Wow looks absolutely phenomenal!! Really well done. A huge congratulations to all those involved; they've really pulled off the unthinkable.

The paddocks look very large and spacious. It seems the video unfortunately only shows us a small portion of the entire complex but from what is show, it already looks enormous. The pools too look absolutely beautiful. The blue water is something that would be very exciting and make for much better viewing when they're swimming. The pools are also huge and I'm sure all of the elephants, especially the calves will make the most of it.

I'm incredibly excited to visit once it opens and check it all out. Almost six years in the making!! Also very excited to see the elephants move in this week; can't wait to see how they settle in and take to the habitats.
 
austrlain zoo gower said:
First Look at Elephant Complex! It looks great!

Click to expand...

This is really impressive.

The two main pools seen in this video are designated for seperate use by the bull and the matriarchal herd. A close up of Luk Chai’s pool can be seen at 1.28; with the matriarchal herd having access to the other pool within the fidget spinner shaped paddock.

I love everything about this except for the inclusion of an African elephant statue???!!!! They have statues of other African species such as the giraffe, which is fine as Werribee has giraffes; but when their biggest attraction is Asian elephants, it’d be more fitting to see a statue of one of them instead.
 
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Zoofan15 said:
The two main pools seen in this video are designated for seperate use by the bull and the matriarchal herd. A close up of Luk Chai’s pool can be seen at 1.28; with the matriarchal herd having access to the other pool within the fidget spinner shaped paddock.

I love everything about this except for the inclusion of an African elephant statue???!!!! They have statues of other African species such as the giraffe, which is fine as Werribee has giraffes; but when their biggest attraction is Asian elephants, it’d be more fitting to see a statue of one of them instead.
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I imagine they will be given the opportunity to rotate across the paddocks too ie. the pools won't necessarily always be dedicated to the bull/s or cows.

The African Elephant was also a surprise inclusion to me too but I can understand why they chose to include it to fit the 'African theming' .The Asian elephant herd obviously being fill ins for the African counterparts too.
 
Jambo said:
I imagine they will be given the opportunity to rotate across the paddocks too ie. the pools won't necessarily always be dedicated to the bull/s or cows.

The African Elephant was also a surprise inclusion to me too but I can understand why they chose to include it to fit the 'African theming' .The Asian elephant herd obviously being fill ins for the African counterparts too.
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The current plans have Paddock 4 and Paddock 5 (bordering the bull pool) designated for bulls; and Paddock 1, Paddock 2 and Paddock 3 (plus the fidget spinner paddock) designated for cows.

This configuration appears to be based on the placement of the barns:

- Bull Barn connects to Paddock and Paddock 5

- Matriarchal Herd Barn connects to Paddock 3 (with flow on to Paddock 2 and Paddock 1)

- Matriachal Herd Barn also connects to Paddock 4 (which will be useful as Roi-Yim begins his transaction out of the herd).
 
Jambo said:
I imagine they will be given the opportunity to rotate across the paddocks too ie. the pools won't necessarily always be dedicated to the bull/s or cows.

The African Elephant was also a surprise inclusion to me too but I can understand why they chose to include it to fit the 'African theming' .The Asian elephant herd obviously being fill ins for the African counterparts too.
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I also was somewhat surprised to see the African elephant statue.
 
Zoofan15 said:
The current plans have Paddock 4 and Paddock 5 (bordering the bull pool) designated for bulls; and Paddock 1, Paddock 2 and Paddock 3 (plus the fidget spinner paddock) designated for cows.

This configuration seemed to be based on the placement of the barns:

- Bull Barn connects to Paddock and Paddock 5

- Matriarchal Herd Barn connects to Paddock 3 (with flow on to Paddock 2 and Paddock 1)

- Matriachal Herd Barn also connects to Paddock 4 (which will be useful as Roi-Yim begins his transaction out of the herd).
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Sure, you are correct it's just based on what I was told by a keeper! The elephants will ultimately get access to multiple paddocks throughout the day and will be move across them on a diverse, rotational basis ie. what paddocks they have access too will be mixed up with no combination being the same every day. The complex is specifically designed to accommodate this and allow the elephants to access multiple areas which would be incredibly enriching for them.

It's also interesting to point out that at 1.54 one of the overhead elephant bridges can be seen connecting the middle paddock to paddock 1. It looks like they'll only be just right above you!
 
Jambo said:
Sure, you are correct it's just based on what I was told by a keeper! The elephants will ultimately get access to multiple paddocks throughout the day and will be move across them on a diverse, rotational basis ie. what paddocks they have access too will be mixed up with no combination being the same every day. The complex is specifically designed to accommodate this and allow the elephants to access multiple areas which would be incredibly enriching for them.

It's also interesting to point out that at 1.54 one of the overhead elephant bridges can be seen connecting the middle paddock to paddock 1. It looks like they'll only be just right above you!
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You’re absolutely correct about the rotation. I was advised by staff in November that the cows would have the run of Paddocks 1-3 (plus the fidget spinner) with them able to choose how to run their day. However without a second bull to fill Paddock 4/5 (which ever Luk Chai doesn’t inhabit), I’m guessing they’d either open up both to him; or even allows the cows access to this paddock.

The idea around Paddock 4/5 being bull paddocks is that there’s a line of trees to obscure their view of each other. They’ll be aware of each other’s presence, but not stressed by it.

Oh cool, I just rewatched to see that now! I really love the overhead tunnels for tigers at Auckland Zoo; and alternatively, the overhead path for visitors/rhinos at Hamilton. How awesome to see a new take on this with elephants at Werribee! This complex will truly be phenomenal.
 
Zoofan15 said:
This is really impressive.

The two main pools seen in this video are designated for seperate use by the bull and the matriarchal herd. A close up of Luk Chai’s pool can be seen at 1.28; with the matriarchal herd having access to the other pool within the fidget spinner shaped paddock.

I love everything about this except for the inclusion of an African elephant statue???!!!! They have statues of other African species such as the giraffe, which is fine as Werribee has giraffes; but when their biggest attraction is Asian elephants, it’d be more fitting to see a statue of one of them instead.
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I'd love the opportunity to see this elephant habitat in person! From the looks of things, Werribee have truly outdone themselves with this complex, effectively upscaling Trail of the Elephants into something that's a whole league of its own!

From what I've seen with the statues, there is an Asian elephant statue alongside the African elephant statue, in order to highlight the two species side by side. Don't know about the baby African elephant statues, but that's moreso an explanation for the adult elephant statues.
 
StoppableSan said:
I'd love the opportunity to see this elephant habitat in person! From the looks of things, Werribee have truly outdone themselves with this complex, effectively upscaling Trail of the Elephants into something that's a whole league of its own!

From what I've seen with the statues, there is an Asian elephant statue alongside the African elephant statue, in order to highlight the two species side by side. Don't know about the baby African elephant statues, but that's moreso an explanation for the adult elephant statues.
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It was an excellent idea by Zoos Victoria to engage a number of overseas expert elephant managers in the projects design it certainly paid off.
 
StoppableSan said:
From what I've seen with the statues, there is an Asian elephant statue alongside the African elephant statue, in order to highlight the two species side by side. Don't know about the baby African elephant statues, but that's moreso an explanation for the adult elephant statues.
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I was referring to the baby African elephant shown in the video at 1.34, but yes Werribee also has these statues which I agree are perfect for illustrating the differences between African and Asian elephants.

Love the Last March

Inspired by the witness statement and latest documentary by David Attenborough, this sculpture features three magnificent animals: a Masai giraffe, an African elephant, and an Indian elephant. The sculptures will be based on real animals that Gillie and Marc have photographed and sketched over the years, capturing the unique essence of each animal.

As the public approaches the sculpture, the animals will come to life through the use of augmented reality, creating a fully immersive experience. The public will be able to get up close and personal with these animals, experiencing the wonder and awe of the natural world.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0089/0499/8976/files/Indian-elephant.png?v=1714613532

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0089/0499/8976/files/African-Forest-Elephant.png?v=1714613945
 
Zoofan15 said:
I was referring to the baby African elephant shown in the video at 1.34, but yes Werribee also has these statues which I agree are perfect for illustrating the differences between African and Asian elephants.

Love the Last March

Inspired by the witness statement and latest documentary by David Attenborough, this sculpture features three magnificent animals: a Masai giraffe, an African elephant, and an Indian elephant. The sculptures will be based on real animals that Gillie and Marc have photographed and sketched over the years, capturing the unique essence of each animal.

As the public approaches the sculpture, the animals will come to life through the use of augmented reality, creating a fully immersive experience. The public will be able to get up close and personal with these animals, experiencing the wonder and awe of the natural world.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0089/0499/8976/files/Indian-elephant.png?v=1714613532

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0089/0499/8976/files/African-Forest-Elephant.png?v=1714613945
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Were the statues first displayed at Gardens-by-the-Bay, in Singapore?
 
Tiger91 said:
Especially since some of there exhibits overseas are incredible, it seems we may have built a large scale version of one.
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There’s a brilliant document about the planning of the Werribee complex here from 2018.

Page 5 includes a size comparison of the Werribee complex to 12 other facilities. Note the development of these plans from two large exhibits to multiple paddocks to cater to the rotation concept referred to in these plans.

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

This study profiles research findings from nine ground-breaking international zoo elephant facilities ranging from smaller, urban and intensively managed facilities such as those in Copenhagen and Dublin to expansive and more passively managed exhibits at Boras Djurpark in Sweden and the very green open range facility at North Carolina Zoo. It includes facilities displaying elephants with other species (Dallas Zoo, Boras Djurpark) and exhibits where elephants, rhinos and other species rotate (time share) in ever- moving circuits (Denver Zoo).

Research included telephone interviews with leading elephant managers, Mr. Gerry Creighton, Dublin Zoo, Mr. Otto Fad, Precision Behavior, and Mr. Alan Roocroft, Elephant Business Inc. They were asked to describe both what they found to be most successful in their present ground-breaking work and what could contribute to a new, next-generation of elephant programs.
 
Additional video on Zoos Victoria’s Asian elephants/Werribee complex:

https://www.themercury.com.au/news/...o-home/video/b163b5519c6a045d7c8c006d4f69e404

Some additional footage, this time more focussed on the training of the elephants; but includes footage of the complex. Roi-Yim’s tusks are coming in nicely; while Aiyara is developing tushes.

The move is noted to be occurring in the coming weeks (previously reported to be occurring late Jan/early Feb).
 
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Luke899 said:
I don’t know if this has been reported or not, but apparently via socials, Luk Chai Has now safely arrived at Werribee :)
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Indeed, he arrived early this morning and has had access to the interior of his barn and the adjacent pen as seen in the video from their socials;
Zoos Victoria on Instagram: "The day is finally here! The first of our nine Asian elephants has safely arrived at his new home at Werribee Open Range Zoo. This morning, the four tonne male Luk Chai voluntarily entered a custom-built crate before being craned onto a flat-bed truck. That's right - for a brief moment, he was airborne! Keepers monitored Luk Chai remotely via cameras as the truck and @VicPol escort vehicles made their way to the newly built 21-hectare habitat. Luk Chai is currently curiously exploring his brand-new bull barn. Stay tuned for updates as the hard-working team plans to move the remaining eight Asian elephants."
 
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