Melbourne Zoo Zoos victria site update
- Thread starter Zoo_Boy
- Start date
zoo inmates.
Jay says it would be nice if more OZ zoos posted info on their websites about the individual animals in their collection. Yes, sadly few zoos seem to do this anymore- all the UK/Europe websites give info just on the species e.g. their biology, where they live in the wild etc but the individual animals in the zoo and their history, breeding etc aren't featured, except in some cases for high-profile species like Gorillas or Elephants. Some zoos do a 'Meet our such and such' section which is great, but many don't. Only births,deaths(sometimes) and moves between zoos usually
get a mention.
Jay says it would be nice if more OZ zoos posted info on their websites about the individual animals in their collection. Yes, sadly few zoos seem to do this anymore- all the UK/Europe websites give info just on the species e.g. their biology, where they live in the wild etc but the individual animals in the zoo and their history, breeding etc aren't featured, except in some cases for high-profile species like Gorillas or Elephants. Some zoos do a 'Meet our such and such' section which is great, but many don't. Only births,deaths(sometimes) and moves between zoos usually
get a mention.I understand the reasoning behind putting up biological information - for eduactionpurposes, but lets face it anyone who has access to a library or the internet can easily get that info. Deaths are very rarely mentioned in Aust. zoos, almost as if the zoos were frightened that they would be perceived badly if a n animal died (for instance I would never have known that the female giraffe at Mogo had died if it weren't for this board). O know that some of the extreme animal rights groups use animal deaths to make out that something is wrong at zoos.
You will only hear of births if the animal is a big publicity one Wait for the trumpeting about the first elephant but you'll only occassionly hear of a zebra or kudu.
This could be a symptom of the media publishing what they only want but the zoos are just as guilty. Melbournes zoo friends magazine has just recently dropped their hathces, matches and dispatches section (staff too busy). This left the entire mag as a travel brochure and I dropped my membership because of this. Tarongas zoo friemds is still very good though
You will only hear of births if the animal is a big publicity one Wait for the trumpeting about the first elephant but you'll only occassionly hear of a zebra or kudu.
This could be a symptom of the media publishing what they only want but the zoos are just as guilty. Melbournes zoo friends magazine has just recently dropped their hathces, matches and dispatches section (staff too busy). This left the entire mag as a travel brochure and I dropped my membership because of this. Tarongas zoo friemds is still very good though
on zoo mags i grabbed a couple of copies of perth zoo's magazine whilst i was visiting. now thats a high quality publication, but its been stopped and put online to reduce waste-paper. quite a good idea.
i love taronga zoo's magazine and london zoo also did quite a good one too. now back to reptiles, and melbourne and taronga both maintain fantastic exhibits but serpenteria at taronga gets so crowded at times-i hate it...
as for butterfly exhibits perth stopped its one because the fabric covering the exhibit kept decaying, but as anyone with a copy of the masterplan would be aware they will be getting them back...
taronga was supposed to keep butterflies in serpenteria's tropical cone, htne they put them in wollemi, now they dont seem to have any, anywhere...
i love taronga zoo's magazine and london zoo also did quite a good one too. now back to reptiles, and melbourne and taronga both maintain fantastic exhibits but serpenteria at taronga gets so crowded at times-i hate it...
as for butterfly exhibits perth stopped its one because the fabric covering the exhibit kept decaying, but as anyone with a copy of the masterplan would be aware they will be getting them back...
taronga was supposed to keep butterflies in serpenteria's tropical cone, htne they put them in wollemi, now they dont seem to have any, anywhere...
but none of that is the same as an indoor heated glasshouse devoted entirely to hunderds of tropical butterflys is it?
by the way i hate that tropical "cone" in serpentaria, the only thing i think is aweful about that reptile house is the plastic plants. melbourne never uses fake plants, but last time i did serpentaria (which was admittedly a while ago) that tacky tropical section was full of them!
by the way i hate that tropical "cone" in serpentaria, the only thing i think is aweful about that reptile house is the plastic plants. melbourne never uses fake plants, but last time i did serpentaria (which was admittedly a while ago) that tacky tropical section was full of them!
i think that in the future serpenteria, which isnt its name anymore, could be redeveloped on the theme of eco-systems and biodiversity, as i feel the taxonomic focus on just reptiles is a little backward.
once the taronga masterplan is completed many of the major reptile exhibits will be located throughout the zoo, such as crocodiles, anaconda and amphibian species like poison arrow frogs. this is far better in terms of eco-system representation.
consequently, many exhibits in serpenteria currently used to display reptiles could be used instead to display small mammals, birds etc. some aquatc exhibits would be great.
but back to the tropical cone, and for now, i too hate it. i just think the zoo would be better off planting it out with some large specimiens of say, fiddle-leafed figs, or other tropical plants, and perhaps revisit the butterfly cone concept down the track...
once the taronga masterplan is completed many of the major reptile exhibits will be located throughout the zoo, such as crocodiles, anaconda and amphibian species like poison arrow frogs. this is far better in terms of eco-system representation.
consequently, many exhibits in serpenteria currently used to display reptiles could be used instead to display small mammals, birds etc. some aquatc exhibits would be great.
but back to the tropical cone, and for now, i too hate it. i just think the zoo would be better off planting it out with some large specimiens of say, fiddle-leafed figs, or other tropical plants, and perhaps revisit the butterfly cone concept down the track...