Werribee Open Range Zoo » Werribee Open Range Zoo

lions on the edge
13-02-2008

thankyou very much jay. i put it down to my creativeness

i also wasn't that impressed by the lions. i'm all for cultural elements like the village and animal kraal (it would be all the better if it was designed in a way that was both authentic but also more hands-on for kids), but cram in too much stuff and a lot of the features get lost. you hardly get the vibe of leaving the village and entering the lions turf when there is an african style hut built as shelter inside the lion exhibit. its just feels all so cluttered to me.

the most frustrating element by far is however, that the male lions can only be viewed from afar.

originally the concept was of a kopje or rocky outcrop (something lions often bask on), hence the way the exhibit overlooks the antelope and zebra paddock below. each exhibit was to house a separate pride, thus it wouldn't have mattered so much if the second exhibit was far away from visitors - you would see males and females up-close nonetheless.

i can only imagine the kopje idea was dropped to save money on mock rockwork, but provided its not overdone, and it would really improve the feel of the enclosure. i'm not a mock rockwork fan as you all know, but this exhibit is, unlike most, set up for it.

at the very least it would provide a creative alternative to a african hut as a heated shelter for the lions....

14-02-2008

Werribee sounds as if it is progressing rather nicely, but it appears that they definitely require a few more at-your-own-pace exhibits to extend the amount of time that visitors spend there. Being only about 40 minutes from Melbourne is fantastic, and having 3 zoos to choose from that are all quite different from each other is mouthwatering for someone like me up here in western Canada.

There is the excellent Vancouver Aquarium, but it is at least an hour drive from my home. The Greater Vancouver Zoo is only half an hour away but is a poorly managed establishment that actually had its accreditation revoked for a number of years due to controversial husbandry and poor exhibits. They recently (as of last week) became accredited again and can now "officially" be recognized as a proper zoo. I try to stay away from the place as it depresses me to see the poor enclosures, and they only have about 700 animals.

So the impressive Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is my "home zoo", but to drive there and back is a total of about 5 hours round-trip. I visit every 6 months like clockwork, but needless to say I am truly envious of folks in Melbourne with the nearby zoos at their disposal. Not to mention the fact that the rain and occasional snow here make visiting attractions tough for half of the year. My wife and I have been talking about moving to Australia for over a year now (we spent 6 weeks on our honeymoon travelling all over Oz - 5 States and the Northern Territory) and so perhaps we will choose a location with a close proximity to captive wildlife.

14-02-2008

so your moving to melbourne then?

14-02-2008

Winter in Melbourne?

You'll need to be a snowleopard!

14-02-2008

ara - melbourne is practically tropical when you come from canada!

and besides, the cold weather just gives us an excuse to wear nice clothes. thats why we are all way trendier than you northerner's!!

14-02-2008

Makes me feel comfortable here in the Backwaters!

14-02-2008

ha ha ha!! - what i love most was that you all admitted it!

no wonder the water tastes so bad outta the tap. its all backwater!

maybe stick to your "farmer's union iced coffee".....

14-02-2008

even that tastes like crap!

14-02-2008

IU can usually fill in half a day at Weribee, then I wander on down to the mansion( for old time buffs like me it is wonderful) and after that a stroll through one of the BEST rose gardens I have ever seen. So iit becomes a full days outing.

14-02-2008

I'm just stirring you Melburnians; I've said it before and I'll say it again - Melbourne has the best animal representation of any zoo in Australia. (Notice I say "representation" rather than "collection" - so much more politically correct!)

14-02-2008

The Uk/European Safari Parks are similar except for 'Bus Tour', read Driving in a car (or coach) through the reserves.There is usually also a similar area as yours where you can walk around smaller animal exhibits. At Woburn (and probably the other Safari Parks, you can go through the reserves as many times as you like, but the experience is the same each time around, and at peak times, its really like sitting in a glorified traffic jam, so once is enough anyway.

When I visited Woburn last year, the whole visit took me less than an hour to see everything there. Contrast with Whipsnade Park, only a few miles distant, which has a very similar range of species but somehow there is much more to look at and you can easily spend the whole day there. Similarly London and Chester Zoos require full day visits( and even then you won't probably won't have seen everything at these massive collections..)

Regarding the Hamadryas baboons. InUK they've been kept successfully in the past at Windsor Safari Park in an 'open range' enclosure while South Lakes () has a group sharing with White rhino/giraffe etc and it works fine. If Melbourne removed theirs to Werribee, it would provide a good exhibit, and remove the continual critisism about their cage at the zoo. BUT they are such a good and active exhibit, it would really almost benefit them to have a colony (properly housed) at both locations!

15-02-2008

melbourne already has a good mandrill exhibit. so i figure one species at each.

15-02-2008

Yes, I forgot about Melbourne's Mandrills. Actually Paignton Zoo here in Uk have a small Mandrill group in one enclosure and a large Colony(c.50) of Hamadryas baboons on a 'baboon rock'- the activity levels and exhibit value of the Hamadryas Baboons is far superior, though I guess if there were 50 Mandrills, not 7, they'd be an almost equally good exhibit too.

16-02-2008

Last time I was at Adelaide they had two colonies next to each other (Mandrills and Hamadryas Baboons.) Interesting to compare........