Werribee Open Range Zoo Zoo News 2014

snowleopard

snowleopard

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There are some new additions to the zoo this year:

- Ranger Kids (children's indoor zone)
- Monkey Playground (outdoor playground)
- The Australian Journey trail is getting a revamp that will see the addition of koalas, viewing dens for the eastern barred bandicoots (a release site for that species is adjacent to the zoo) and an aviary for orange-bellied parrots.
 
snowleopard said:
There are some new additions to the zoo this year:

- Ranger Kids (children's indoor zone)
- Monkey Playground (outdoor playground)
- The Australian Journey trail is getting a revamp that will see the addition of koalas, viewing dens for the eastern barred bandicoots (a release site for that species is adjacent to the zoo) and an aviary for orange-bellied parrots.
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I visited on Sunday, which was a very busy and hot day.

-I'm not at all sure where the indoor playground will be.
-The monkey playground is a small rope climbing type playground adjacent to the Vervet Monkey enclosure.
-Koalas would be a good and easy addition to the zoo's native animal area, although there was no sign of an exhibit being built for them yet. However work has started on a nocturnal house where the bandicoots are to be displayed. The release site (or at least one of them) is actually the Australian Journey exhibit itself, which is a massive area where you have zero chance of seeing any bandicoots. An aviary would also be a good addition, as there aren't actually any at the zoo!

In other news:
-The new entry area looks very nice, and seems to be operating well. The bus parked outside is used as the ticket booths, with windows along its length. There is a new shop and kiosk as well.
-A new leopard tortoise exhibit has been built at the end of the building that used to hold the gift shop, which is now a function centre. Old exhibit now empty.
-No sign of baby hippo sadly.
-Baby bison, addax and oryx on display, two pregnant Przewalski mares on exhibit, which now features a yurt as well.
-The safari bus now goes through the hippo exhibit before heading down to the savannah, but didn't go through there on our visit due to "animal management" reasons.
-Otherwise everything else much the same, busy and looking good.
 
I visited yesterday! I also was impressed with the general appearance of the place, which now looks like a movie set with all the broken down safari vehicles and truck etc.
The new "bus" tour now involves 3 trailers pulled behind the bus, making a very long convoy filled with over 100 people on each tour. The dry moats in the arid grasslands, fencing the Bison, Wild Horses and Addax were new since my last visit.
The next enclosure, the African waterhole, was also improved with trees well established and views into the hippos and Hunting dogs. This now has Zebras (I assume a breeding group as the guide pointed out their youngest one) Male ostrich and 3 female Kudus - no mention of the waterbuck they used to have here. Give this area 20 years and this area will be very tropical looking with lots of Morton Bay Fig trees and palms planted etc. A fake crocodile was on the bank of the island in the waterhole. One side of this area makes up the filtration system for the hippo lakes, where the water is pumped thru a huge canal system of reeds and water plants before flowing thru the hippos enclosures and then into another wetlands area.
Overall, I was very impressed with the latest improvements, however I find all their preaching about their conservation measures a bit of a giggle - they certainly aren't doing it thru much breeding. Their Gorillas, giraffes, Ostrich are all males, the Kudus, Hunting dogs & servals are all females. The Bison are now only a pair (where did the rest of the herd go? there used to be almost 20 of them at one point) the Addax were 3 females with a youngster, kept separate from the 3 males (explained by saying the males don't like to share their food....) only a few female Eland in the savannah area, with a couple of males visible in another paddock, only 2 rhinos on display. The lions appear to be 3 lioness's in the closest enclosure with a fully mained male in the back enclosure, however they recently castrated the 2 old males (ex Auckland) and they have lost their manes. It was interesting to observe just how much bulkier they are to a female.
So the only animals that appeared to be encouraged to breed were the Zebras, hippos, vervet monkeys, meerkats and guinea fowl.... But very worth while spending a full day out there.
 
When did you last visit astrobird?

Possibly slightly unfair, with your summary of their breeding - they may be holding bachelor groups of several species, but these are often breeding at Melbourne Zoo anyway! They are also actively breeding addax, oryx and Przewalski's horse from what I could tell, with the male addax separated due to them being too rough for the young calf according to my safari bus driver!

I too noticed the absence of waterbuck, wonder what has become of them?
 
I last visited the day before the Gorilla enclosure opened... so I estimate about 2 years..... I wasn't wanting to sound unfair about their breeding, but was noticing how they no longer maintain the numbers of animals they used to have. Like most of the big zoos, they are becoming more of a showcase - which I can understand, but I miss the big groups they used to have.
 
Astrobird said:
I last visited the day before the Gorilla enclosure opened... so I estimate about 2 years..... I wasn't wanting to sound unfair about their breeding, but was noticing how they no longer maintain the numbers of animals they used to have. Like most of the big zoos, they are becoming more of a showcase - which I can understand, but I miss the big groups they used to have.
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It would be good if they had a few more animals, the savannah exhibit especially feels very empty, obviously it's huge, but they could definitely hold larger numbers of giraffe, eland and zebra quite easily, and it would make it much more impressive - more like Monarto.
 
Sounds like a lot of money has been spent on an upgrade of facilities and a new entry precinct to see the same cast of animals. It would have been great to have some new animals.
 
Great news! There are some new animals at the zoo! And they're 'exotic' (albeit domesticated) too! :D According to their Facebook page:

"There are some new faces at Werribee Open Range Zoo.
Five Texas Longhorn Cattle are calling the Zoo home, and once they have passed the time in quarantine, will be moving to the Woodlands Waterhole.
The presence of the Texas Longhorns alongside zebra and antelope will help show the close proximity of people and animals in Africa, the conflict that can arise over precious grasslands and positive examples of how communities like Melako are engaged in protecting their rangelands and wildlife."

Whatever happened to the Watusi cattle? I thought they would have been more appropriate, being from Africa.
 
That seems like a weird breed to choose, maybe they couldn't get Watusi? Or they were super expensive? I guess Texas Longhorns would be more impressive than Brahman, or one of the other more African looking breeds.
 
zooboy28 said:
That seems like a weird breed to choose, maybe they couldn't get Watusi? Or they were super expensive? I guess Texas Longhorns would be more impressive than Brahman, or one of the other more African looking breeds.
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They used to have Watusi cattle on display up to about 2010. Maybe they all went to heaven.
 
as far as I can figure Watusi cattle (which will always be Ankole cattle to me) are extinct in Australia now, although there seem to still be a few hybrid cattle stocks.
 
Chlidonias said:
as far as I can figure Watusi cattle (which will always be Ankole cattle to me) are extinct in Australia now, although there seem to still be a few hybrid cattle stocks.
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Oh my. Yet another species extinct in Oz. I suppose that Texas Longhorn look similar to Ankole-Watusi, and the average visitor will just be plain old amazed by the size of their horns.
 
nanoboy said:
Oh my. Yet another species extinct in Oz. I suppose that Texas Longhorn look similar to Ankole-Watusi, and the average visitor will just be plain old amazed by the size of their horns.
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Well, no, not another extinct species. There are still plenty of cows in Australia :D
 
I visited yesterday, here are a few quick notes from the Safari:

-There were young Bison, Przewalski Horse and Addax, the foal especially made a great display. The Camels and Oryx were crossing the road and feeding near the bus, which was really cool.
-The young Hippo and its mother were in the drive-through exhibit, with the other three together in the walking-trail exhibit, all five are female.
-The Waterbuck are still there in the Waterhole exhibit, and there were five on display, including a male and two females, with two young-ish males. Ostrich and the breeding group of zebra are here too, but only two female Kudu visible. No sign of any cattle.
-The savannah was looking fairly full, there were 7 Eland, ~10 Zebra, 6 Giraffe, 2 Rhinos and Ostrich all hanging out in the same area, which was rather impressive.

Not much new on the African walking trail, although the Freshwater Crocodiles were off-display. "Ranger Kids" is a new indoor kids play area in the building that used to be the gift shop. The Tortoise exhibit that has been added to the end of this building actually includes a portion inside the building too, so the species can be on display year round. As well as Leopard Tortoise, Bell's Hinge-backed Tortoises are also displayed here.

The Australian Journey expansion is going full-steam ahead, new gardens have been added and the nocturnal exhibit looks fairly complete from the outside. No completion date yet, but the map says it will be open this winter.
 
Rare Foal is a Mare's day gift

Rare foal is a mare’s day gift at Werribee Open Range Zoo | News.com.au

A MOTHER’S Day miracle has unfolded again at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

Mahan, a Przewalski’s horse, gave birth last Sunday — the second time she had given birth on Mother’s Day.

The rare breed was declared extinct in the 1960s in Mongolia but an international breeding program in zoos has managed to keep the majestic wild animals alive.

Werribee Open Range Zoo’s life sciences manager, Russel Traher, said the latest birth was an exciting development.

“Mahan is a very experienced mother and is keeping a close eye on her foal,” Mr Traher said.

“The foal is feeding well and she is beginning to explore her surroundings.”
Visitors to Werribee yesterday were lucky enough to see the foal take her steps under mum’s watchful eye.

Mahan’s previous foal Nikolai was born in 2012 and the wild horses can be seen on the zoo’s safari tours.
 
Lionesses arrive from Denmark

from their website's news page -
Lionesses arrive en route to Werribee | Zoos Victoria
Two lionesses have arrived safely in Melbourne this morning on Wednesday 14 May, following a long journey from Givskud Zoo in Denmark.

The two year-old lionesses will spend at least 30 days in quarantine at Melbourne Zoo before travelling to their new home at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

The lionesses traveled well and were transferred to Melbourne Zoo’s quarantine facility this morning.

They are now settling in after their journey and have been very calm and relaxed.

Following 30 days of quarantine the two lionesses will finish the final leg of their journey to Werribee Open Range Zoo where they will be slowly introduced to male lion Johari.

The introduction process will take place in the Zoo’s back of house lion facilities and is expected to take several months, as keepers gradually increase the level of scent-based, visual and fence-to-fence contact.

The lionesses will be a very important addition to the social structure of the lion group at the Zoo.

Lions naturally live in a pride and Werribee Open Range Zoo had been searching for lionesses to join male lion Johari for some time.

We expect it will be several months before visitors are able to see the new arrivals, as our first priority is making sure they settle in comfortably.
 
They have done a really nice painting on the wall of the toilets. See attached. Question: aren't those Grandidier's Baobabs? And aren't they endemic to Madagascar?
 

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baobabs all look similar to me but these seem very much like the regular African ones.
 
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