quick review. overall the zoo is looking great. no doubt thanks to some maintenance on older exhibits and all this rain we've had all summer. i did everything except the big cats and bears area. gorilla rainforest - looking good as always. very unfortunate that there are no pygmy hippos. mandrill exhibit has had a slight landscaping work since my last visit. treetop monkeys and apes - black capped capuchins now have access to old javan langur exhibit via a runway. a big improvement for the capuchin family (which was a nice addition to the collection). i had read some discontent on here that vegetation had been cleared form this area. it has. but was predominantly bamboo and only from between two particular exhibits (currently housing two species of lemur). my assumption is that this was done to give the primates access to sunlight in winter, since both these exhibits were exceptionally gloomy. whilst it looks different - i don't thing its a bad thing. plus the area has been replanted with less sun blocking species. i also was pleasantly surprised to see there is two tree shrews on display again here. a species of interest and very rare now in australia. i had thought the zoo was down to one (or none). trail of the elephants - very lush and overgrown. looking great. orangs seem to have done a workover on the large trees in the exhibit that were planted too close to the climbing frames. the tall palms have taken well, but very unfortunate that the trees are unlikely to ever get parts that "breakable" size. siamangs holding their own with the public as usual. asian bird collection a shadow of what it once was. mandarin ducks, amhert and golden pheasnats, a hybrid peafowl some chattering lories, plumhead parrots, a couple of red faced parrotfinches and javas and white bibbed ground doves repeated through the four aviaries there. wild sea - finally some fish! all the tanks are stocked and it makes a big difference. the outdoor areas of wild sea are not half bad. the pigface and tussocks are really growing well in the dunes and the gardens look great. i dare say all the sand actually makes parts of wild sea look far more natural than tarongas version. but its that intentional artificialness that lets it down and still does. but, to be fair - the addition of fish (especially in the penguin exhibit), garden maturity and some healthy algal growth have done a good job at improving it. like i said the outdoor sections are great. the cleverly designed super low fences between the visitors and penguins/seals are great. the fact that melbourne's seals can sunbathe on real sand is great. now if only they just fixed those damn rocks. zoo center - the center of the zoo is primarily african savannah animals, platypus and the reptile and frog houses. all these looked great. the gardens surrounding the lion park (an exhibit i still think is good even though its about one of the oldest exhibits left at the zoo) have been "africanised" and are looking good. the platforms for the lions to lounge on are a nice addition too. its a very spacious exhibit by big cat standards - nothing to be ashamed of here. the frog house has a new room added especially for the corroboree frog program, which is worthwhile. these frogs used to be on display in a small tank the main frog house, whereas now there is a window into a cool room before you enter the main house in which various tanks and enclosures containing the frogs gives you a much better grasp of just what zoos vic is doing behind the scenes. the reptile house looks great as always. best landscaped terrariums i've ever seen in an australian zoo. the bongos have lost their yard to the new baboon development. they now have the rear end of the giraffe/ostrich/zebra yard, which fortunately is well shaded and vegetated. its a lot smaller but will suffice for their breeding pair. the baboon exhibit looks rather big. one wonders the logic of placing this exhibit smack bang at the entrance to the australian bush. its a step back from the immersion concept that melbourne has helped pioneer globally and to date, been exclusively practicing since its modernisation plans began in the late 80's. the australian bush - nothing much has changed here. the great flight aviary is still a gem. there were parma wallabies in one of the old cassowary enclosures running alongside the GFA. whilst i may have missed one in the earlier exhibit i wonder if this signals that the species has left melbourne? the old zoo - well excluding the bear/big cat areas that were refurbed on my last visit that just leaves the mixed up area surrounding the old elephant house. this area is completely undeveloped but again contains nothing to be embarrassed about. the red panda exhibits suffice. as do the tree kangaroo's (though its a shame these high profile animals don't have something great like they used to). the old penguin pool still houses a few "special needs" penguins. one of the old bird aviaries now holds the emperor tamarins. i was pleased to see a breeding family groups with a few youngsters in there. as far as i'm aware there are the only ones in australia. this species used to be displayed in a decent enclosure sandwiched between two terribly small ones for cottontops and a lone GLT. when i went to this area i was pleased to see that the three exhibits had been joined and given over to what was now a pair of GLT's. where the cottontops have gone i'm not sure. so there it is. it was brilliant sunny day and the zoo was not even that busy. one could navigate easily and had no problem getting a look into any of the animal exhibits. with the new baboon exhibit on the way nobody can complain that melbourne has some atrocious or inadequate exhibits - it doesnt. and at half the cost of taronga and with a equally good collection and much, much, much nicer atmosphere i know which zoo i prefer.
I visited the zoo on Saturday 26th March 2011. I have no major complaint about the zoo enclosures, EXCEPT for the 'big' cats. The enclosures for the snow leopards, Persian leopard and cougar, in my opinion, seem way too small. They really were just a huge cage with chain-link fencing for the roof. These magnificent cats' view of the sky is obscured by metal. This is in contrast to the lion enclosure that is massive, and open-air. A real shame it is that the critically (?) endangered snow leopards are displayed so shabbily. Although the cougars are not endangered, they had a huge open air enclosure at the zoo in Canberra (separated from the public by a moat). Admittedly, the enclosure for the snow leopard in Canberra was also a huge cage, but it was much larger than the one at Melbourne Zoo. Surely these cats deserve a bigger and better enclosure at Melbourne Zoo? Oh, another 'complaint'/comment: there were 2 or 3 blue and gold macaws in a huge aviary, and it got me thinking. Why aren't more animals out and about with keepers mingling with zoo patrons, posing for pics, and being used to give informal talks about conservation? There are probably a thousand things that people hate about Australia Zoo, but at least you get to interact with the cockatoos, elephants, snakes etc. Oh yeah, last complaint: I called to book the meerkat encounter, but was told that it was booked up every weekend until June, which is 3 months away! Surely they can allow more than 4 people to interact with the meerkats at a time, or have more than one session per day, given that they have more than 1 meerkat enclosure? Overall, Melbourne Zoo had a static feel to it. Watch but don't touch. I think that they're sitting on a potential gold mine of animal encounters, in terms of money, and in terms of getting the whole wildlife/conservation message across to kids and parents. We had a great day out, but to summarise: 1. I think the enclosures for some of the cats can be improved, 2. More animals could be out and about, and 3. More people could be allowed to interact with the meerkats
I don't think the endangered status of a particular species is really relevant when you are considering the ethics of a specific enclosure. Be them rare or otherwise, all cats deserve access to sunshine etc. However personally, I have little problem with the simple wire roofing you see on the Big Cat Row at melbourne. Whilst i agree particular exhibits could be larger, I expect that they will link up at least some of the smaller exhibits with those adjacent after the elderly persian leopard and pumas die. The only big cats planned to be retained at melbourne are sumatran tigers, lions and snow leopards. With the former two currently have their own exhibits elsewhere. This leaves the snow leopards to take the entire big cat row. some 5-6 enclosures from memory. If Melbourne choose to modify, rather than demolish these enclosures, it could mean a larger population of snow leopards held at the zoo - and thats a good thing. The bear exhibit could likely find itself empty here also. This area was originally designated as a temperate forest zone, an idea I very much hope they hold onto. But with the weird decisions that are going on there at the moment (such as building a baboon exhibit at the entrance to the Australian Bush, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing gets redeveloped for lemurs. The baboons could have been quite well suited to a modified bear exhibit too - right opposite the lions, who are not far from the giraffes. Its hard to tell what they have planned, but Melbourne certainly have allowed their collection (which was by far the largest and most diverse in Australia) to greatly diminish, whilst developing new areas and thus have a lot of space available to them now to work with.
A fair point, Peacock. I did not express myself properly. What I meant was that seeing that they are so critically endangered, I thought that they would have been more prominent, and given pride of place with a better enclosure. "Come see the amazing snow leopards at Melbourne Zoo", rather than "Come see the lions at Melbourne Zoo, which you can also see at Werribee". Waiting for the cougar and Persian leopard to die before enlarging the snow leopard enclosure sounds harsh. I hope they can use some of the extra space that they have to construct a new enclosure for these big cats instead of waiting for a few to die to make space. Why are the elephants in Melbourne, and not at Werribee? Not exactly an African Great Plains experience without elephants. But then again, there are giraffes and zebras at Melbourne Zoo as well as at Werribee. Maybe Melbourne Zoo tries to have a little of everything (animals from overseas, local animals, and African animals) in the centre of the city for the tourist, and Healesville and Werribee are more specialised? Seems that way to me, as there is a fair bit of overlap.
On the macaws. Not all animals should be passed around between people, taken away from their enclosure and have little kids touch and pat them. Birds are meant to be flying, and thats the importance of a large aviary. Not every animal wants to be passed around and put in shows. Personally I prefer to see birds interact and fly in large, habitat aviaries, rather than seeing them being passed around.
A fair point, Electus. It's a double edged sword I suppose. On the one hand you give zoo patrons a truly memorable experience, but on the other hand you expose the birds or animals to stress and disease etc and expose the public to getting nipped. Maybe there is a middle ground: when we went to Australia Zoo, there was a keeper at the entrance with a sulphur crested cockatoo on her arm. We didn't get to touch the bird, but it was nice to be able to see it up close. I don't recall the excuse, but maybe something along the lines of "he nips" or "he doesn't like anyone but me to touch him", which is plausible enough to keep the public at bay. So maybe the birds can get a reprieve from their aviaries for an hour to socialise with a keeper and the public, and then its back to the aviary for free flight.
Hi, Do you know if Motaba has moved to Werribee yet with his two sons or when the exhibit will be finished/if it is finished? Thanks
just checked ISIS and there are pairs of emperor tamarins at Mogo and Perth as well. But Wellington is now listed as only having one: there goes their breeding programme!
That's ok. I might be going to Melbourne next week so fingers crossed and I hope I will make it to both Melbourne and WOR Zoos, as well as Healsville if I can
Yep, you're right. Regarding the Wellington potential death, its just another classic example of why spreading out breeding programs over long distances whilst still in their infancy is a complete waste of time, money and resources.
The boys haven't moved yet, and the exhibit isnt finished yet. There are some great pics on Zoos Victorias facebook page of the construction of the largest gorilla exhibit in the southern hemisphere.
Cheers. It will be a vast improvement over their current one. I hope it will be as lushly planted as Melbourne's enclosure and it looks like it will be water moated at the front and then maybe a rockwall at the back? This would make a great enclosure in future for another breeding group which can form three groups in Australia, and Adelaide has plans to hold them once the pandas go, which means gorillas might form a great breeding program here in Australia.
I visited Melbourne Zoo last Friday (15/4/11). Overall, I thought it was a pretty good zoo with some great and some average to bad exhibits, but I had an enjoyable day. This was my first zoo trip with my new camera, and it is awesome!!! I am very pleased with it and look forward to the day when the chimp exhibit at Taronga is completed, as I will be going! Anyway, I felt that the zoo map is very bad, because it only highlights the major drawcard ABC species, so you can easily miss some exhibits or very interesting species. I managed to see many new species including Philippine Crocodile, African Wild Dog, Caracal, Lemur, Siamang and others which was a real joy. I was very impressed with the gorilla exhibit (actually, the whole Gorilla Trail), meerkat, elephant, orangutan, lion and giraffe exhibits (ie. the major drawcard exhibits). However, I was disappointed with the brown bear, baboon, bongo, snow leopard, Wild Sea and one serval exhibit. Notes include: -Baboon exhibit is well from being finished. They have poured concrete for the indoor/night exhibits but otherwise it is still dirt. Interesting that it isn't placed closer to the African section of the zoo, but rather at the entrance to the Aussie Walkabout! -Serval wasn't on show or I couldn't see it as there are some hiding spots in every exhibit -Part of the Gorilla Trail was closed off (it was a room near the 'Researcher's Hut') which looked like it had some tanks in it). -Former pygmy hippo exhibit is being refurbished/modified so I wonder of Kambiri from Taronga will be coming to Melbourne (just as Monifa did) -I managed to see some off-show cotton top tamarins near the gorilla indoor exhibits/food preparation room. I dont know if these have always been here or are a new addition. -Saw a subbordinate (possibly even immature) Hamadryas Baboon mating with a female out of sight of the other dominant males. The enclosure has been split so there is two groups: the left hand group has a smaller area and 1 adult male with about 5 females, the right hand group has about 3 adult males + 7 adult females/immature males. -Rigo was sleeping in the shelter where the first viewing area is, with the rest of the females resting around him. -Ramalon the Sumatran Tiger moved to Australia Zoo last Monday (11/4/11) -Capuchins have had a baby who has been named Hoodlum! -Sumatran Orangutan Menyaru was sharing the open exhibit with the hybrid girls, Maimunah, Dewi and Santan were in the meshed exhibit and the Siamangs were in the indoor day room. Later in the day, the hybrids + Menyaru swapped with the Siamangs. I was very impressed with both of the outdoor Orangutan Sanctuary exhibits, they are very large and you actually have to see it in person to get the scale of the place. Overall, it was a great visit
UMAG this is your first visit to the victorian zoos? For some reason I was under the impression that you visited regularly.
