Baboon exhibit at the Melbourne Zoo, July 2009

This photo shows the concreted part of the exhibit. Although it smells, the cieling is really low and all of the views are through chainlink mesh; it is jam-packed full of enrichment and the big cohesive group must make this quite enjoyable for the baboons. I however don\'t like it though

Aesthetically this baboon cage is horrendous, as the primates can only be seen through chainlink fence. I'm glad to see that some natural substrate has been added since my visit in 2007, but this outdated pile of concrete and steel should have been bulldozed at least a decade or two ago. Some people might argue that the ugly fence allows the baboons to climb, but all this cage does is send the message that it is still okay to keep animals behind metal bars. The conservation message, which is one of the most important factors in zoos due to habitat loss, would be much better conveyed with a spacious, naturalisitic habitat out at Werribee. There are only about 350 animals at that open range zoo, so they could definitely benefit from having a huge group of Hamadryas baboons in a terrific new exhibit. Also, as long as the enclosure was designed with the baboons in mind then it could turn out to be amazing for both visitors and the loud monkeys.

I just can't understand why Melbourne have kept this dreadful old exhibit so long. It looked dreadfully outdated even the first time I saw it-and that was about 1980.. It would have taken only a fraction of the cost of their other modern exhibits like the Elephants, Orangutans etc to have erased this and built a more modern enclosure(either in the Zoo or at Werribee). By doing this they would have removed one of the last really substandard eyesores in the zoo at the same time, so its been an odd choice of priorities in my opinion.

Finally set to be demolished and replaced later this year.

Yep I visited this zoo just recently. There is a new, modern and naturalistic enclosure planned for the troop.

This exhibit is also among the ones that have been knocked down for Growing Wild. After the baboons moved out last year it was screened off and sat empty for a time but now it's a much more pleasant garden space.

Besides turkeys and meerkats, what other species are located in the new Growing Wild precinct? Is it basically a large kiddie zone near the food court? I can recall seeing baboons, tree kangaroos, red pandas, penguins and other critters when I visited in 2007.

Aldabra giant tortoise are the only other species but there is the promise of more species being added later. And the location is near the front entrance and not really near the food court. The map on the zoo's website hasn't been updated yet. The baboons and little penguins have new (and far superior) exhibits in other parts of the zoo, the rad pandas now live in the small cat alley, and I assume the tree kangaroos are off display somewhere.