Melbourne Zoo Future of Melbourne Zoo 2022 (Speculation / Fantasy)

I'd love to see a lot more of the enclosures in the Treetop trail inhibited instead of remaining empty. There's currently three empty enclosures out of all eight, and Melbourne could easily find species to move there. Squirrel Monkeys are extremely active, and could suit one of the larger enclosures. Golden Lion Tamirans would also fit the final enclosure, and I'd like to see Binturong return to Melbourne. Melbourne even have a Tree Kangaroo off display that could be displayed in one of the enclosures

 

Melbourne Zoo has taken a massive hit in species diversity over the last decade, as has Taronga Zoo. I appreciate it’s a double edged sword - with the pressure on to build better quality, more spacious exhibits; but the decrease in species is disappointing none the less.

Melbourne Zoo has a lot of double ups, which I’d find more acceptable if it was part of an initiative to breed an endangered species (e.g. Perth Zoo having multiple exhibits of Sumatran orangutans); but when it’s multiple exhibits of meerkats etc. it falls flat and borders on using filler animals.

 

It’s very disappointing. Over the past decade I’ve struggled to see any positive developments from Melbourne. A lot of species have been phased out, and are being replaced by species found elsewhere in the zoo, creating double ups. Makes no sense whatsoever.

The Sea Lion precinct is decent at best, although I dislike the fact it’s almost entirely concrete. Growing Wild is a completely uninspired children’s zoo; half of it is taken up by meerkat enclosures, and some parts are closed off now. Carnivores also made zero sense considering zoos are moving into displaying their species geographically. The lions and wild dogs received smaller enclosures than they had previously, and there were also multiple double ups (Coati, Tasmanian Devil, Sumatran Tiger). The only part that deserves recognition is the Snow Leopard enclosure.

Many well known species have also been lost such as Binturong, Capuchins, Mandrill, Mara, Bongo, Brazilian Tapir, Syrian Bears ect. Can't even think of any species phased in...

It would be nice for Melbourne to improve their collection.. it’s such a shame to see how their collection has deteriorated in recent years.

 

Melbourne had already been through a series of phase outs throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s that saw the loss of several primates - including Common chimpanzee, Chacma baboon and Pig-tailed macaque; and many felids - including Jaguar, Persian leopard, Ocelot, Temminck’s golden cat and Leopard cat to name a few.

Phase outs during this time period were common practice for the main zoos of the region (Auckland, Perth, Adelaide and Taronga all went through similar phases); but Melbourne seem to have taken it to new levels without investing in improved exhibits. I agree the melting point of exhibits that comprise the carnivores trail are no replacement for the spectacular lion park, that despite being decades old, was a decent sized exhibit showcasing one of the zoo’s biggest drawcards.

I hope the phase outs have plateaued and will be neutralised with the import of new species in the near future. The elephant’s transfer to Werribee will provide an opportunity for this with. Let’s hope they seize it.

 

I don’t believe anyone could have phased out bongos quicker than Melbourne zoo did

 

It's not like they didn't have success too, they breed them quite well.

 

Any information on their breeding

 

It was ridiculous. All because of one incident (the female who ran into the fence). It was an isolated incident with several corrective actions available to minimise the chance of it occurring again.

Kulungu was born at Melbourne Zoo 26/11/2010 to Ndugu and Binti. He was transferred to Taronga Western Plains Zoo 16/11/2011, where he remains to this date. His younger siblings (also born at Melbourne) were Issac, born 20/01/2012; and Madiba, born 2013 (died 2016).

 

Then its even more of a shame that they dropped them

 

Ndugu and Binti were indeed a successful pair; which is ironic considering Binti was the female who later ran into the fence, effectively sealing Melbourne’s decision to phase them out.

It seems that if a zoo gets a compatible pair, there’s a potential to breed numerous calves from them. Nyeri and Nambala (the region’s founders at Taronga) are another example; as well as Djembe, who has successfully bred with two males (Ekundu and Kulungu).

 

From the number kept in zoos in the USA and European zoos they certainly breed well also being kept and breed in some American hunting ranches

 

Looking back on records, it appears every female in the region that survived to adulthood went on to breed successfully. The only adult female that hasn’t bred to date is Maisha, the Singapore imported female. Like you say, they’re certainly not hard to breed with many zoos experiencing success with them.

With imports set to become an option for Australian zoos, I hope we’ll see the open range zoos holding herds of at least 1.3 as a starting point, with female offspring retained to breed with a successor male. Having medium to large sized herds will allow underperforming animals to be easily swapped out and exchanges to occur between zoos.

 

Regarding the imports one would believe that there would be mini stampede to bring in a group but somehow I don’t believe many are going to take advantage of it, hopefully I am wrong

 

Altina are probably the most eager to import. Following the recent death of their male, they’re now without this species. Given their dedication to breeding ungulates, it’s not hard to imagine they’d be interested in acquiring a small founder base and breeding.

Dubbo’s breeding female is getting on in years and the imported female isn’t breeding. They’d presumably be keen to boost herd numbers with some female imports at a minimum and hopefully a new male given the relatedness of our regional population.

Monarto, as an open range zoo could also potentially hold a large herd as they do with Scimitar-horned oryx and other ungulates. They’d do well there.

A group import seems the logical way to go imo.

 

Altina in my view would be one of the most progressive zoos in the region but they are only a small regional zoo without the benefit’s of having public funding like our major zoos have. The smaller zoos can and do a outstanding job but its the big major zoos that should be stepping up to the plate and showing the way

 

Would love some help planning on just doing mammals ,I will do the imports and exports list for Melbourne zoo
Could you make a list of some exhibits that would be free by 2025
Any help would be appreciated

 

Monarto and Taronga would be the most likely to import them based on funding available. It’s a shame Werribee haven’t mentioned any intention of housing them in the future, considering they’re also an open range zoo.

Large breeding herds at Taronga and Monarto could then supply the smaller zoos; assuming they don’t join forces in the initial group import. Alternatively, they may receive the surplus e.g. Dubbo’s non breeding Bongo if/when imported founders arrive.

 

Will you be doing imports/exports in the past, or those you think will occur in the future?

It'll be hard to predict enclosures that will be empty by 2025. The only certain one, besides the ones that already sit empty, would be the Peccary enclosure, which will be empty due to the current residents most likely being deceased.

 

I would like to create a list where we all put in import to what we would like at Melbourne zoo and where they could go

 

We wait in anticipation