Werribee Open Range Zoo Werribee Zoo Update

lol. Get back into your cage! :D

Your safari experience IS improved greatly, but a lot of that has to do with the a) double the time, b) the vehicle used and c) the small group

Lets get to b as it has the most effect on it..

The big buses need to stay on the track because the simply CAN'T drive safely off road. Even if they could, getting too close to animals such as rhinos remains dangerous due to the lack of an age restrictions. At times like right now, the rhino can get very narky, and screaming kids getting close to them causes them to become aggravated.
a) The extra time means the driver can stop for longer and more often, and take the time to "chase" the animals as they aren't on a "strict" roster (Open Vehicles normally have at least an hour 'padding' between tours)

and finally c) means that you may spend more time directly talking to a guide, some of which whom are keepers of are generally "close" to the animals, thus improving your experience.

Finally, there has to be SOMETHING better about the Open Vehicle so that people will still go and pay the extra $50 to experience it.. ;)

I HIGHLY recommend both the Open Vehicle AND the Giraffe feed (which, at the moment, has NO age restriction) ignore the price, it's well worth the enjoyment. Good for presents :D

And keep a look out for the NEW rhino tour. I've done the old, incredibly unpopular one, and had a one on one with Leighroy. Got to pat him and all :} which, ironically, is the main attraction of the new tour :D

I really should post up some of my photos, but alas, it could reveal my true identity >:)
 
m575 said:
I really should post up some of my photos, but alas, it could reveal my true identity >:)
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how mysterious:p

i did the giraffe feed during a "keeper for a day" experience but the giraffe did want to come over. too hot. well i guess it goes with the saying, "you can lead a horse to water but you can make it drink".

does the raising rhino tour allow contact with the rhinos?
 
Hmm. Well it's almost guaranteed that you'll get a feed if you pay for the tour. They end up taking you to the giraffe. ;)

New rhino tour is called Rhinos Revealed, and yes. But it's not running yet, not sure when it'll start. Should be soon. Guides haven't been trained yet afaik, and rhinos still being moved around.
 
Jesse said:
what would you like to see done to spice up the bus tour?
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I think the whole zoo needs a "spice up".

The Australian section is like walking through a bare paddock.
The guides often speed through the bus tour.
The hippos are pretty much the only thing that makes me go there.
 
normaeinstein said:
I think the whole zoo needs a "spice up"...
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they certainly need to look at beefing up the collection. the large addax herd learn't how to follow the buses through the gates and were thus removed from the "arid africa" paddock. they need to look at ways they can be returned. there current location is too windy and cold for them during winter. iikewise they need some barbary sheep in here. there is about a 80 or more in australia. why they don't have them?...

the congo buffalo should go on display, why they aren't is beyond me - though i heard rumours there was talk of returning them to melbourne.

if the the mongolian horses can co-exist with the bison, then they should go in there, call it a northern steppes exhibit or something. this would help free up the asian field for some more substantial sized herds. they need more chital, blackbuck and should think about getting some water buffalo again or banteng.

oh and start (in)breeding those melbourne bongo. breed, breed, breed, breed them...... i don't want them to stop breeding them until they start growing extra heads!
 
i don't know why WORZ doesn't have reasonably easy to obtain hoofstock like water buffalo and barbary sheep. to kick off the zoos asian theme i reccomend a small village overlooking a paddock with water buffalo and macaque. peafowl could be walking around the village and scattered throughout the village could be some aviaries filled with exotic birds. a whole new bus system could be built around asian hoofstock.
 
Jesse said:
i don't know why WORZ doesn't have reasonably easy to obtain hoofstock like water buffalo and barbary sheep. to kick off the zoos asian theme i reccomend a small village overlooking a paddock with water buffalo and macaque. peafowl could be walking around the village and scattered throughout the village could be some aviaries filled with exotic birds. a whole new bus system could be built around asian hoofstock.
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And eventually have Indian rhinos.
If Werribee could have an asian theme but have as few species over-lapping (I'll let peafowl slide and wouldn't mind elephants) with Melbourne as possible it could probably add another 50% onto it's collection.
 
Just cause i'm a moderator doesnt mean i can't speak my mind.

Someone who constantly makes statements with no intent on backing them up doesnt sit well with me.
 
PAT said:
And eventually have Indian rhinos.
If Werribee could have an asian theme but have as few species over-lapping (I'll let peafowl slide and wouldn't mind elephants) with Melbourne as possible it could probably add another 50% onto it's collection.
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Werribee needs at least another three flagship species if it wants to get anywhere near the 700,000 figure that is being touted as the long-term goal.

They have five - lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras and hippos. Gorillas are on the way. Elephants would make seven. Put tigers out there and it would make a big difference again.
 
CGSwans said:
Werribee needs at least another three flagship species if it wants to get anywhere near the 700,000 figure that is being touted as the long-term goal.

They have five - lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras and hippos. Gorillas are on the way. Elephants would make seven. Put tigers out there and it would make a big difference again.
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i agree - but i sooo wish they wern't moving the gorillas there. gorillas are not part of werribee's educational grasslands theme - which i think is important and worth preserving.

if i had my way it would be baboons next, followed by indian rhino and then elephants....
 
phoenix said:
i agree - but i sooo wish they wern't moving the gorillas there. gorillas are not part of werribee's educational grasslands theme - which i think is important and worth preserving.

if i had my way it would be baboons next, followed by indian rhino and then elephants....
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I think you've lost that one, I'm afraid.

As of late I've been at Werribee very regularly. So much so that I can pretty much mouth the key lines of the bus tour as they say it. ;) The fundamental problem with the zoo is a lack of animals. At the moment, there's only 18 exotic mammals on display (I know I go on and on about exotic mammals, but they are the backbone of a zoo's viability: what people pay to see).

I understand why the waterbuck are off-display - they're giving them every chance to eke one last generation out of our existing stock. The dwarf forest buffalo were in the Asian paddock (which was silly in itself) for a few months and have now disappeared again. The servals are, of course, currently off-display pending funds for an exhibit. Apparently the last couple of chitals don't cope well with having the bus go past.

They just need to get some of the easy to obtain hoofstock in, to pad out the bus tour a bit. Barbary sheep, water buffalo, wapiti and chital would be a good, easy, not too expensive start (but of course, only one of them is African). Put the forest buffalo back on display, build the serval exhibit and with the gorillas coming suddenly you're up to 25 species. It's not Dubbo, but it's still almost 50% better than what they've got currently.
 
To the relevant people, that's fine. I can stop posting here. But as a last note, Werribee is expanding slowly. I think I mentioned earlier, for example, that they have recently recieved a new girraffe, and ANOTHER one is on the way shortly. (Also heard possible talks of breeding which does contradict what I said earlier about a bachelor group, but this is just talks and no offical plans so could never happen) I also believe they are bringing in a tassie devil group. Unsure if it's on or off display. I'll take a stab in the dark and say they'll be getting some breeding pairs from Heasville as they are having tremendous success in their program! The lions will hopefully increase in numbers by the end of the year if all goes well, the Ostrich (now I'm a little confused, I know there's two at the back, but not sure if they took the last 1/2 off display two) have been trying to breed for a while so there's more there. I think they got some baby vervets in the past few months (maybe only one?) and as always, they have been trying to breed the rhinos for a LONG time. I think there's a group of three off display near the new "Savannah" which is the breeding group.

On top of this there are various antelope which they are trying to bring in, but no luck due to quarantine restrictions that are currently in place.

I can also reveal the latest exhbit! Only because a lot of people would've seen it if they looked carefully ;)

Got a new tortoise enclosure near the entrance. It's in a roped off area, but still very visible. Though there are some issues with it so there's nothing in there as of last time I checked, but should be "any moment" now.

So as you can see, things ARE happening, it's just taking time. :) (And a LOT of money)
 
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