Adelaide Zoo Adelaide Zoo Masterplan

Zoos SA masterplan unveiled

Just announced: A 20 year masterplan for Adelaide and Monarto has been unveiled. Proposed new species for Adelaide include Gorillas, Sri Lankan Leopards and Komodo Dragon - whilst both sites will benefit from investment in various projects:

We're thrilled to share with you an exciting new vision for Adelaide Zoo! The Zoos SA Master Plan will guide the transformation of our beloved zoo over the next 20 years. The proposed new developments will see the introduction of an adventure playground and some new ambassador species; the Western Lowland Gorilla, Sri Lankan Leopard and Komodo Dragon just to name a few. Visit our website to learn more about our exciting vision for Adelaide Zoo and to submit feedback on the proposed plan
Zoos SA Master Plan - Zoos SA

 

Today, Zoos South Australia has released its masterplan for both Adelaide and Monarto Zoos. And its fairly impressive (and all still very hypothetical of course).

It can be downloaded as a PDF here: Zoos SA Master Plan - Zoos SA
There is also a section on that page that allows feedback to be given.

The key points are that Adelaide Zoo will be redeveloped extensively into 7 precincts:
1. Nature's Playground & Aussie Icons
Children's Zoo with much of the Australian collection, this will replace the old hoofstock areas near the old entrance.
2. Into Africa
This will replace the area currently holding giraffes and surrounds, all old exhibits. Lions, meerkats, fennec foxes, mandrills, colobus, ruffed lemurs, pygmy hippos, birds, Aldabran tortoises and gorillas to be displayed here.
3. Jewels of Asia
Largely exisitng area, but with expansion to include Sri Lankan leopards, Komodo dragons, and new otter exhibit.
4. The Tropical North
Replacing the far end of the zoo where the sea lions etc. are, this will see new exhibits for southern cassowary, tree kangaroos, crocodiles, and aviaries for a number of birds including Palm Cockatoo. An aquarium will feature a range of northern fish species.
5. Conservation Oz
Vague area replacing exhibits around pelican exhibit, focusing on threatened species and including many bird exhibits, as well as Tasmanian devils, bandicoots, wallabies and reptiles.
6. Jungle Journey
Jungle Journey will be a massive multi-storey, walk-through South American aviary, with tapirs, capybara, coati, mara, squirrel monkeys, tamarins, marmosets and a variety of birds.
7. Bamboo Forest
Unchanged exhibit complex featuring red panda and giant panda, with small expansion to include an aviary for Chinese birds.

Bamboo Forest is essentially done, Jewels of Asia will be expanded but is largely in place, while the remaining precincts basically need to be completely built. Unfortunately this will see removal of a number of very good exhibits, as well as many older ones that are due for replacement. Sadly the Nocturnal House will go (sadly this is not surprising), but the reptile house will be expanded and a new aquarium also built.

Aerial walkways for animals are invisioned in certain precincts, reflecting a new zoo trend, which will be very interesting. Into Africa and Bamboo Forest are possibilities for hosting these (for primates and red panda respectively)

Key new species include Gorillas, Sri Lankan Leopards and Komodo Dragons. The larger hoofstock will move to Monarto Zoo (giraffes, Barbary sheep), leaving Brazilian Tapir as the only "hoofstock" to be maintained long-term (Malayans being phased out). Ring-tailed lemurs and Hamadryas baboons will also move to Monarto, but new exhibits for mandrill and colobus will see them retained (unexpectedly).

 

I think so, it looks very impressive, retains (and expands) a great collection of species on a small site, while removing many of the outdated exhibits that hold Adelaide back (e.g. giraffe). That said, the loss of the nocturnal house and likely many of the aviaries will see a lot of smaller sepcies lost, although there are plans for many aviaries, which is unusual for most zoo planning these days.

 

So is the colobus exhibit at Monarto still going ahead?

 

The most interesting thing about this plan is that they're trying some new things (at least in Australia). I like the look of the South American exhibit and they're picking some of the less obvious species (fennec fox, Sri Lankan leopards)

I love Adelaide Zoo but haven't visited in a few years because there hasn't been any major changes made in a while (apart from the addition of a few new species in old exhibits). Hopefully, Zoos SA's past financial woes won't hold this up too much and we can see it begin to be implemented pretty soon.

 

I like it. I don't think all of it will happen, of course. Pygmy hippos and a continued flamingo presence seem, at best, optimistic for Adelaide and I really don't think African elephants is ever going to happen at Monarto. But the Sri Lankan leopards, Komodo dragons and to a lesser extent gorillas are all quite plausible for Adelaide. And Monarto desperately, desperately needs more exhibits. If it all happened, Adelaide would have strong claims on being potentially the best zoo of its size in the world.

The loss of the nocturnal house would be most disappointing and my one big fear is that Adelaide's bird collection gets thinned out. It's the only zoo in Australia with a significant bird collection held in uniformly high quality planted aviaries. That shouldn't be lost.

One thing I'd urge is that a master plan for Monarto needs to include a shuttle bus from the city, at an affordable price to make reaching it plausible for people without cars. A return fare of perhaps $15 would be reasonable and would drive fairly desperately needed attendance at a zoo that is more or less impossible to reach without a car.

 

Yes, these are my biggest concerns. I did note that the expanded reptile House would feature "nocturnal and temperate aquatic" exhibits alongside the reptiles, so that is a good sign that some of the nocturnal species will be retained. And all precincts include aviaries, so I think they will still have very (relatively) high bird diversity, although some species loss would not be surprising.

 

It might just be my failing eyesight but the map is a bit too low-res for me to be able to make out everything.

I'd settle for them moving the nocturnal species out to Monarto, actually. I'm not sure if you've been there but the collection is really thin. They keep good numbers of the species they do have (including their ridiculous number of giraffes which are awesome to see) but the diversity just isn't there.

I'm intrigued by this idea of a multi-storey mixed South American enclosure. It has the potential to be very cool.

 

The individual precinct maps are better, but the main zoo map is very poor resolution. I think the South American exhibit sounds brilliant, but there will need to be some seperated sections for some species I imagine.

I've posted a review of the Monarto plan too.

 

I noticed in another thread that Darling Downs Zoo are also planning to get involved with Sri Lankan Leopard. It's great that Australian zoos are starting to add more diversity to their big cat collections.

 

It would be great to get leopards established and breeding in Australia (again), but it hasn't happened yet. Both Taronga and Melbourne have lower cat diversity than they did this time last year, and as far as I know no zoos have acquired any leopards or built any enclosures for them yet. If a Sri Lankan programme is established, I wonder if it will be at the expense of Snow Leopards, rather than alongside them...

 

I don't think it will be at the expense of snow leopards (I know that they are part of the plan for Phase 2 of Predator Prey at Melbourne Zoo) and I really hope that it will not be at their expense - as they are such an important species for global conservation and such a beautiful animal.

 

Mind you the plan before that was for Javans, and of course the region had a nice group of Persians which they refused to commit to. Hopefully the Sri Lankans proceed.