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#16
30-05-2006
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
DATE: Friday, January 14, 2005 HAPPY HAPPY HIPPOS Plans for a new $6.45 million Hippo Experience at Werribee Open Range Zoo were unveiled today by Acting Premier and Minister for the Environment John Thwaites. “The new Hippo Experience will provide visitors with the opportunity to get up close to these fascinating animals, to see them being fed and in some cases even touch them,” Mr Thwaites said. “As part of the project, a whole new precinct will be created at the Zoo - a representation of a African style community-owned reserve where ecotourism is a key feature. “A partly-submerged barge in the ‘river’ will provide water-level ‘nose-to-nose’ hippo viewing and listening through hydrophones – allowing people to hear what’s going on under water. There will also be canoes and viewing platforms on the water’s edge. “Periscopes and glass-bottomed buckets will provide underwater views of hippos and other pond life. Visitors will be able to see and hear first-hand how keepers work with the animals, with views into a special conditioning area.” The Bracks Government’s contribution to the project comes from its $32 million capital funding commitment to Victoria’s zoos. Mr Thwaites said the hippo exhibit would employ a completely natural filtration system to make the water clearer and cleaner - the first to be used for this type of exhibit across the world. “The new Hippo Experience at Werribee Open Range Zoo is an expression of our vision for zoos in the 21st century where the bars are removed and humans can learn about, interact and engage with animals on numerous different levels.” Internationally-respected Zoo designers Studio Hanson Roberts and interpretation group, Work as Play, were commissioned to work with Zoos Victoria staff to produce a world-class design. Local architects and engineers have been involved in the design and development phase and local contractors will carry out the construction, which is due to start early this year with the project due to be completed in the first half of 2006. “It’s a year since I opened Werribee Open Range Zoo’s Lions on the Edge exhibit made possible through the generosity of Holden Australia which drove record visitor numbers last financial year. “I look forward to seeing the new Hippo Experience receive equally strong support from the local community and from visitors from around Australia and the world.” |
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#17
30-05-2006
http://www.studio-hansonroberts.com
go to projects, there is info on weriibee and a pic of the new hippo experience |
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#18
reply from WORZ....
30-05-2006
i sent WORZ an email asking them about long-term development and species collection, heres the reply....(too bad about the congo buffalo)
Hi Patrick, Thank you for writing to us about your experience at Werribee Open Range Zoo and taking the time to provide your valuable feedback. The need to introduce more self-guided experiences is something that has been recognised at this zoo for quite a period of time and our long range plan has been working to address this. The introduction of 'Lions on the Edge' is one step we have taken to increase the amount of self-guided experiences for our visitors. The next step is 'Kubu River Hippos', which will open later this year. Towards the end of the year, we are planning to open up walking access to the Werribee River and the boardwalk alongside the river. We then have other exciting plans to allow our visitors to self-explore the wider zoo - perhaps by the introduction of a bicycle path! In regards to the diversity of species at our zoo, tight restrictions placed on the import of bovids into Australia have prompted us to re-examine our Species Collection Plan. We had been focusing mainly on African and Australian grasslands animals, but we will be having discussions to review this throughout this year. You are correct that we did have congo buffalo relocated from Melbourne Zoo to Werribee Open Range Zoo. This occurs from time to time, and the species cannot always be easily accommodated in our exisiting enclosures. There is often a period of time where the species are 'off display' while we consider the most appropriate enclosure for them. Caring for ungulates within an open range setting is perhaps not as easy as it would appear - there are unique challenges when displaying animals in an open-range, mixed species setting. We don't have plans to breed the congo buffalo as the individuals we have are not an appropriate breeding group, and congo buffalo are not a priority species in the Australasian region. I hope that answers all of your questions, and thank you again for taking the time to write in to us and share your thoughts. Kind regards Erin Landells Visitor Experience Manager Werribee Open Range Zoo |
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#19
30-05-2006
thts a shame if u go to zoolex.org, then to the lions werribee presentaion u will see a map with the bicycle trail, its kool right around all the savannah, inluding the lower
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#20
30-05-2006
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#21
30-05-2006
yeah i saw the two large moreton bay fig trees. there is a company in america that has become so good at transplanting trees they can now successfully relocate monsterous 100 year old oak trees with no damage to the tree whatsoever. but its a mammoth task, takes months and is a very costly operation...
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#22
30-05-2006
Thanks Pat for looking out for the Sable antelope for me shame it was not seen, damm, lets hope its not to long before they start a herd, there they are stunning. In regards to the fencing of white rhinos at WPZ they have (at the front of the exhibit) electric fencing as well but then a step slope up to the walkway/road. It is good you gave Werribie zoo some input with some ideas i think more people should do this at least they can give them something to think about.
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#23
30-05-2006
lets hope the do get some sable herd going - but who knows, its so hard to speculate all the time on what species the zoos choose to keep and species they choose not to keep anymore!
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#24
from the woodland park zoo thread....
12-02-2008
Quote:
what's up next for werribee, i'm not sure. a masterplan doc that zooboy had a few years back seemed to imply that more facilities for the ever increasing number of bachelor white rhino was on the cards, as well as what may be a drive-through african wild dog paddock. a boardwalk down to the river (and hopefully with views accross to the main savannah) was the other project. a wise move as far as i am concerned would be to build a singaporesque baboon exhibit, getting that troop outta the melbourne cages and giving werribee a truly big attraction at the same time. utilising the views across to the pre-existing "arid africa" paddock with camels, oryx, addax etc, it could also incorporate some smaller exhibits for north african animals that need more spaces in the region. fennec foxes spring to mind, maybe some chameleons or tortoises - and the zoo could also copy singapore's ibex-in-the-background type idea using the regionally available barbary sheep as an equally authentic alternative. |
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#25
12-02-2008
The addax aren't with the Oryx and camels anymore because they learned to tip-toe through the wire cattle grates on the ground and follow the bus's through the open gate. So now they are in a exhibit of the road and you needa look through a chain-link fence to see them from the bus.
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#26
13-02-2008
@Patrick: thanks for posting the Werribee information on this thread, as we were stealing space away from the Seattle Zoo on the other one.
I just read your review of Werribee from May 2006 for the first time, and overall it was fairly negative. Your biggest concern was the lack of time spent at the establishment, and I wholeheartedly agree with you as I only spent about 2 hours at Monarto open-range zoo when I visited last June. All of those type of zoos are the same, with an hour bus tour and then an hour of walking around the smaller exhibits, gift shop and cafe. Then it's time to go home! By the way, have you been back to Werribee in the past two years...and how often do you visit Healesville? There are a small percentage of people here at ZooBeat that insist that visitors can spend all day at an open-range zoo, but that would really be dragging it out. It's totally frustrating to have to whiz by animals in an hour time frame and not have the opportunity to stroll around at ones own pace. The San Diego Wild Animal Park is immensely frustrating, as they have an enormous number of animals (around 3,500 on last count) but the monorail tour is again only the one hour. At least at that park visitors have the opportunity to spend many more hours walking around due to the larger number of pathways. They still set the standard as far as open-range zoos go. Shifting the hamadryas baboons from their old-style cage at the Melbourne Zoo to Werribee is by far the most logical thing I've heard for years, and anything would be better than their current accommodations. Any type of primate exhibit is fantastic for the public, as it can maintain interest for much longer than a herd of browsing ungulates. As long as the public can walk over to the new chimpanzee exhibit at Monarto then it will be a resounding success, as that can eat up at least half an hour of time. But if the chimps can only be seen from the bus tour then that would truly be a shame. |
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#27
13-02-2008
What are the attendance figures at Melbourne's 3 zoos? It was posted on here last week that Taronga has about 1.2 million visitors a year, and Taronga Western Plains Zoo has only about 200,000. Based on those numbers I'm guessing that Melbourne Zoo pulls in about a million visitors per year, Werribee about 400,000 and Healesville maybe 250,000. Those are just estimates as I haven't read any information on the actual numbers.
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#28
13-02-2008
exact visiotr numbers can be found on the zoos website- in the 2007 annual report
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#29
13-02-2008
yeah i don't know the figures, i know melbourne zoo cracks a million a year.
snowleopard - i have been back to werribee, relatively recently and was really impressed with the hippo exhibit. without doubt the best exhibit at the zoo and one of the best exhibits i've seen. also, it certainly chews up over half an hour if you know the zoo (and thus that there is little more to see) and take your time. no doubt this single exhibit alone has radially improved the zoo. a naturally filtering hippo river like this costs big bucks, so they are ahead of many other open range zoos in this respect and have sealed themselves a unique attraction (especially since a breeding hippo group are so bloody hard to come by in australasia!) apparently another baby hippo is one the way there and i think another was due for transfer from dubbo. with the old hippo dams still in a non-public area of the zoo, werribee has the opportunity to manage a pretty large population of hippos. i have high hopes for werribee. its got a great location nestled between victoria's two largest cities and only 40mins from melbourne. werribee park, in which the zoo is situated, also has numerous other attractions luring visitors there such as the mansion and its gardens. i think it will only continue to increase in its attendance figures. in addition its a new zoo, and definitely has that feel about it. there is no real replacing old exhibits at werribee, just building new ones. the zoo has also recently begun to invest heavily in immersion landscaping witch has given it a great "africanised" feel about it. i think its got a good chance at eventually becoming a world-famous open range zoo. a cheap addition that would keep visitors occupied that i am surprised they haven't yet got there is a walk thru savannah aviary. we have HEAPS of african finches, doves and parrots in australian aviculture. they could do something really colourful there. |
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#30
13-02-2008
Quote:
Patrick you come up with some excellent ideas. This would be great and as you said it wouldn't be too expensive. Now if only we could get you on the board so this goes ahead. The hippo exhibit is great and certainly the BEST exhibit at Werribee (didn't like the lions that much). That they are breeding again is excellent news. |
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