Werribee Open Range Zoo Werribee Open Range Zoo Review (November 2023)

[Zoofan15]

Part Five - Desert Exhibits and Australian Precinct

Werribee have an entire indoor building dedicated to Leopard tortoise and Bell's hinge-back tortoise; which also have an outside area. I’ve seen Leopard tortoise at several zoos and the combined exhibit space was considerably larger than what I’ve previously seen for this species. Public interest was low in this building/exhibit compared to other species; with the megafauna predictably drawing more attention.

Tortoise exhibit (indoors):



Torotise exhibit (outdoors):



The Slender-tailed meerkat exhibit was a reasonable size compared to exhibits I’ve seen at city zoos; though a large breeding group of meerkats, housed in a correspondingly large exhibit, would be more befitting Werribee’s status as an open range zoo. In this case, I note this exhibit is primarily there to enhance the cafe and as such, serves that purpose; and a larger exhibit will hopefully eventuate within the Waterhole precinct one day.

Slender-tailed meerkat exhibit:



I left the native section to the end of the exhibit; being more interested in the exotics. The highlight was a walk-through Orange-bellied parrot aviary. It was interesting to see this critically endangered species up close and read about the zoo’s conservation work. It’s one of only two migratory parrot species in the world and it’s estimated the wild population is less than 50 birds. Hearing that certainly gave me a greater appreciation for what I was seeing.

Orange-bellied parrot aviary:



Orange-bellied parrot:



The precinct included a huge sprawling hillside, where a large mob of Eastern grey kangaroo were resting. At the top of the sloping hills was a large flock of wild Cape Barren geese. It was impressive to see such a large flock given I’m used to seeing smaller numbers (or even one) within New Zealand zoos. I later encountered a flock of Emu, which wandered across the trail right in front of me as I walked around the Chirnside Woolshed (built in 1861). They had some stuff inside about the history of sheep shearing, but it didn’t really interest me.

Emu:



Eastern grey kangaroo:



Cape Barren goose:



The Koala exhibits had been refurbished shortly before my visit and I was impressed with them as a whole; though Ballarat Wildlife Park’s panorama of Koala exhibits remained unbeatable with regards to the Victorian facilties I visited on this trip.

Koala exhibits:



The Werribee River Trail is something I would have spent longer exploring had I had the time. Wild Platypus can be seen in the river and it’s a great asset to the zoo, with the walking trail across wetlands and viewing platforms forming a loop. It’s easy to see why it’s a hot spot for bird life.

Werribee River Trail:



I decided to skip the garden section of the precinct and consequently missed the reptile house, which will teach me to pay more attention to the map. I understand it contained a mere three species on @akasha’s visit, which I feel would have been underwhelming in comparison to the magnificent reptile collections I saw at Melbourne Zoo and Ballarat Wildlife Park.

 

[Astrobird]

Im enjoying your review, its a beautiful zoo that makes the most of its natural environment. The red earth and lovely high river banks/cliffs make it a setting like no other zoo in Australia. I regularly visit family that live very close to the zoo, and usually spend time, early morning, standing on the cliffs near the mansion, overlooking the main savanah enjoying the vistas of zebra, eland, oryx, rhino and ostrich and all the wild birds. You see alot of activity from the animals as the keepers do their rounds dropping feed around the exhibit- the giraffes are usually still locked up in their yards at that time of the morning (before the zoo is open) the best part of this is its totally free to see all these animals from outside the zoo!

 

[Zoofan15]

Im enjoying your review, its a beautiful zoo that makes the most of its natural environment. The red earth and lovely high river banks/cliffs make it a setting like no other zoo in Australia. I regularly visit family that live very close to the zoo, and usually spend time, early morning, standing on the cliffs near the mansion, overlooking the main savanah enjoying the vistas of zebra, eland, oryx, rhino and ostrich and all the wild birds. You see alot of activity from the animals as the keepers do their rounds dropping feed around the exhibit- the giraffes are usually still locked up in their yards at that time of the morning (before the zoo is open) the best part of this is its totally free to see all these animals from outside the zoo!

Thank you, @Astrobird, I agree Werribee is a beautiful zoo. It’s easily the most synergised with nature I’ve visited and there’s so many wild species. I love how the Werribee River flows through the zoo, with the hippopotamus complex taking it’s water from the river. It reminds me of how Motions Creek flows through Auckland Zoo, with the stream previously running through the original hippopotamus exhibit.

Werribee’s progress has been slow compared to Dubbo and Orana, but it’s certainly making up for lost time with the elephant complex and the rest of the master plan I hope will progress over the coming years.

 

[Zoofan15]

Conclusion

Thank you to everyone who’s followed my Werribee Open Range Zoo review. It’s been a pleasure to share my visit with you and hear your thoughts.

It’s fair to say I was very familiar with Werribee’s animal population prior to visiting; having researched the histories and lineages of many of the species over the years as I have Melbourne’s. However, where these zoos differ is I felt like I knew every square inch of Melbourne’s layout prior to visiting; whereas Werribee’s was more of a blank slate - especially with regards to scale. In the current state, Werribee Open Range Zoo is definitely a morning or afternoon out; not a day out like Melbourne Zoo. As previously mentioned, the elephant complex alone will turn the tide, bringing Werribee to the world stage; and the projects planned beyond that are also exciting.

Werribee Open Range Zoo have 22 mammal species:

African lion
Cheetah
Serval
African wild dog
Slender-tailed meerkat
Common hippopotamus
Southern white rhinoceros
Giraffe
Plains zebra
Przewalski’s horse
Dromedary camel
American bison
Scimitar-horned oryx
Eland
Indian antelope
Lowland nyala
Common waterbuck
Western lowland gorilla
Vervet monkey
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Tammar Wallaby
Koala

When you consider close to 60% of these can’t be seen at Melbourne Zoo, that a prime example of Zoos Victoria’s facilities playing to their strengths - with Werribee housing large ungulate species that are impractical to house in a city zoo; or large breeding groups of species held in small non-breeding groups at Melbourne. It’s undoubtedly an effective marketing strategy for promoting the visitation of each site (with Healesville of course focussing on native species) and will surely pay off dividends over the years to come. Anecdotally, close to every New Zealander I know outside of ZooChat who’s visited Melbourne has been to Melbourne Zoo. Of those people, I’d say around 25% have visited Werribee Open Range Zoo; with at least that again unaware it even exists. Five years from now, it’s not hard to imagine close to half could be making time to visit Melbourne and Werribee’s zoos; or going to Werribee because they went to Melbourne last time.

In closing, I’d like to thank Werribee’s staff, who were every bit as passionate about their roles as Melbourne’s incredible team. I had the privilege of talking to a lady who had been overseeing the zoo’s overnight experience the night before and her general knowledge of the site was second to none. I came prepared with a list of questions, expecting any given keeper/staff member being able to answer 3-4 depending on the species they worked with; but she was able to answer every single one. I was astounded!

I will share some final photos, which weren’t included in my previous posts:

Safari Bus crossing Werribee River:



Giraffes:



Plains zebras:



Eland herd:



Przewalski's horse exhibit:



Sheru (African lion):



Chirnside Woolshed:



Orange-bellied parrot aviary:



Western lowland gorilla night house wall:

 

[The Sleepy Hippo]

Thank you, @Zoofan15
I've loved this sequel to your Melbourne Zoo review. Really was a highlight of the week. Your knowledge and passion are amazing, and your photography is of the same calibre. Another great review series!!!