Can any city top the prices of Berlin? For less than 8€ a month (if you use the bonus month extenstion of the annual Kombi pass) you have the two stunning collections at your fingertips.
I agree, Zoos Victoria has three unique sites (Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo and Healsville Sanctuary) all accessible from the city. Not to mention the three zoos themselves boast interesting animal collections and has a large focus on Australian natives.
Healesville sanctuary is 178 km in distance from Melbourne and it's in another municipality. I think that is beyond the topic discussion. The same goes for SD Safari Park imo.
Lets translate that to the Netherlands shall we? If we start in the Dutch town of Rhenen, using Google maps and zootierliste I roughly mapped out how much you can reach within a "comfortable 1hr drive". In terms of major zoos you would reach the following major zoos: - Ouwehands Dierenpark - Burgers' Zoo - Apenheul - Dolfinarium Harderwijk - Dierenpark Amersfoort - Zoo Parc Overloon - Safaripark Beekse Bergen - Dierenrijk Mierlo - ARTIS Amsterdam - Diergaarde Blijdorp - Vogelpark Avifauna Along with a huge selection of minor zoos like BestZoo, Dierenpark Zie-Zoo, De Oliemeulen, De Aarde, Almere Jungle, Aquazoo Leerdam and even Tiergarten Kleve in Germany. I know things are different in Australia but regarding collections up to an hour away as part of the city's zoos quickly becomes absurd in the more zoo heavy countries like the Netherlands or Germany.
In the US a one hour drive is practically noting, though I agree it is a bit ridiculous to count a zoo one hour away from a city's limits part of that city.
I like how everyone is ignoring my post where I state that the only three collections within an hours drive of the Melbourne CBD are the Zoo, the Museum and the Aquarium.