A look at the Melbourne Zoo masterplan » Melbourne Zoo

06-04-2008

i like the green peafowl aviary. maybe i was lucky when i went there because everytime i went to the zoo the birds were visible.
my nan lives at a place called swansea heads in nsw, north of sydney and there are bulbuls there everywhere. they are fascinating birds and would be nice back in trail of the elepahants

06-04-2008

Where'd you hear that..? A quick google search found this:

Not sure I agree with the easily achieved part...

Who Will Save the Wild Tiger? (full)

07-04-2008

I read it of a newspaper article.

07-04-2008

Really? Fascinating. Please share some scientifically sound evidence of this stress with us all. I'm keen to see it.

Again, this is fascinating news. Can you share some of these statistics with us, as they are very different to the breeding rates in captive tigers that I'm familiar with. I bet ptig can also produce countless contradictory evidence.

07-04-2008

....i'm guessing about 14 years old.

07-04-2008

Erratic ovulation periods can be caused due to stress but the stress level i'm not exactly sure of, i do know that it has to be prior to the date of the tigeress's ovulation period because when she is ovulating she goes under a massive amount of stress due to courtship of the male and the actual mating i hear the pain is the equvilent of a knife making a 2 inche wound in the human's leg, Melbourne's male tiger Ramalon is old and of course his semen count and strength will go down but since their is no competition maybe he might sire one more litter.

I went to my zoo two weeks ago after i read the article, and asked the keepers, they said that stress may be affliated to tiger ovulation more so than we believed, apparently the tiger nervous system is contracted into it's hormonal genes, but they wouldn't go into extrem details probably because i am a kid.

Although i am keen to hear your tiger facts i'm not a nerd on tigers that much ( i don't keep a database of them like elephants) but i do know somewhat basic intermidiate facts.

07-04-2008

The facts I was keen to hear about are how you've determined that the "tigers are stressed by their sibling's death". You don't consider this just a touch anthropomorphic?

And the "statistics" about only 10% or lower of captive tigers succesfully breeding?

You description of the stress and pain associated with ovulation and mating is fascinating, to say the least, but this seems to be another new set of information. It was your first two statements that I'd like see some facts about, becuase I consider them to be completely wrong, in both cases.

07-04-2008

so with onl 10% of tigers breeding succesfully does that mean our sumatran tiger program is based on 1.4 tigers?

07-04-2008

Here's an ambitious plan!
With the pelicans and other coastal birds set to be relocated to the the new marine precinct, the asian lake and two islands are set to be completely vacant. A popular suggestion on this forum is to refurbished the islands into suitable exhibits for South-East Asian aboreal primates; possibly the zoo's white-cheeked gibbons or javan langurs. My proposal however is for the lake to be completely drained, or some of the land reclaimed (with the lake ultimately drained partially). This newly acquired area could be transformed into a South-East Asian "waterways" multi-exhibit. The small precinct would house animals typically found in/around swamps or rivers in the rainforests of SE Asia; keeping with the area's theme. Animals which would be included in the area could include the zoo's small-clawed otters & fishing cats, as well as displaying imported species like malayan tapirs, water-orientated birds (such as cattle egret, glossy ibis and royal spoonbill) & fish common to SE Asian rivers. A pavillion could be erected at the centre of the precinct, overlooking a tapir exhibit & fishing cat exhibit; containing small aquariums and reptile enclosures, and educational/conservational information regarding waterways in SE Asia; and connecting to an otter exhibit featuring underwater viewing, and bird avairy. Most of the water would be retained (though sufficiently cleaned) in the current site of the asian lake; with it used to fill ponds, streams, bathing pools and moats.

The development of such an area would benefit the zoo in a number of ways, including:
1. The ability to retain a waterway within the Asian rainforest while fully utilizing the area with the development of quality exhibits.
2. Proliferating the species representation of Asian animals within an already outstanding rainforest habit.
3. Less popular animals would be more frequently visited due to the exhibits world-class standards and centralization.
4. Freeing up an exhibit currently within the Asian rainforest (otters-though i don't think they are located there currently) and retaining unused land between the Trail of the Elephants and Sumatran Tiger exhibit.

The unused land mentioned above could be developed, along with the aboreal-primates tree-top walk into an expanded tree-top walk precinct divided into two areas exclusive to africa, and asian animals respectively (as patrick previously suggested). The asian area could house the zoo's white-cheeked gibbons, javan langurs, binturongs, tree shrews, a new avairy and perhaps an acquired primate species, such as the silvery gibbon. The otter exhibit could be converted into the home of the clouded leopard. The development of such areas would ultimately complete the asian rainforest and meran that all animals from the SE Asian region would be housed within the area. The former Orangutan exhibits could possibly be converted in to a new exhibit for Sun bears; extending the Asian rainforest.

07-04-2008

good plans man, most of them have been suggested before. The Asian Lake is a good concept and one which I think will inevitably be developed, but Melbourne Zoo currently has no stated intention to house Sun Bear, Clouded Leopards and Tapir are being phased out (and leopards could easily jump out of the current otter exhibit anyway), whilst tree shrew are highly inbred and likely to die out in the very near future.
Personally, the only additonal work I would like to see in this half of Melbourne's Zoo would be an expansion of the bull elephant paddock and relocation of the giraffe zebra to Weribee (Disneyland).
My (lol) version of MZ would focus on African predators mainly, in an African Predator Ridge type exhibit and an Asian Highland Zone amongst other small projects

07-04-2008

I do apologise, i am very sorry i shall look in further depth into more so concepts, next time perhaps i'll go into a zoo with a fake mostache. sorry
(抱歉) i have much to learn about tigers, you are a true zoo pro, (动物园老板)

07-04-2008

With tigers, I thought the problem was STOPPING them breeding.

07-04-2008

dragon(ele)nerd, when it comes to Australian zoos Zoopro's word can be considered VERY close to God's... He has been asked to make sure Australian zoo information on this site is correct and has been at the game much longer than you, or I, or for that matter the internet has been alive... I applaud you for being a young man more interested in the natural word than what Paris Hilton was wearing last week, I in fact wish I was a young man with as clear a view of my passions as yourself, however if you want to claim something a fact please conduct a little google test before posting as many of us do here or start sentences with, "I heard" or "I think" or even "I believe"...

Kind regards,

Jeremy

08-04-2008

Getting back to Melbourne's potential developments...when does the shiny new marine precinct open? Hopefully the $20 million being spent won't be completely overshadowed by Great Southern Oceans at Taronga Zoo. Is the date for completion 2009? Is it still possibly going to be called "Stories from the Sea", or is there going to be a naming contest?

08-04-2008

what was she wearing last week?


triffle those are interesting ideas, like the idea of a riverbank type exhibit but its a tad impractical for the reasons glyn stated (most notably the phase out of malayan tapir).

the reasons i suggested primate islands was because;
a) i believe the gibbons in particular deserve more space.
b) i was suggesting a short-term resolution to improve the life an thematics of the entire zoo with very minimal effort.

long-term though i do like the asian riverbank theme. there are plenty of smaller reptiles and fish that could incorporate into it.

on that note, what happened to the giant gourami in the "elephant research station"... he was cool.