just saw on the news the news that the minister for the environment has announced melbourne zoos next big project after the orangs - a new seal exhibit. the new exhibit will feature new underwater viewing area new much larger pool(s) seal theater the plans looked big and complex but i couldn't see much on the tv. no doubt a new penguin exhibit will be included in the plans. the current seal pool was actually designed for monkeys!!!
Have they made a start on the Orang exhibit yet Pat or is it still in the planning Stages?. Any idea what it may look like.
no - it must be almost finished. i saw it months ago and the main structure was all there. it looked like a raised boardwalk with two outdoor exhibits and one indoor located within a central asian-style building. looked like in all enclosures, the orangs would be able to get real close to visitors. i assume a few "o-lines" will go over the visitor viewing platform here and there. the orangs where contained by concealed dry moats...siamangs will share the exhibit. apparently it will be modelled on a jungle rehab center. though the orangs themselves probably wont have any access to live trees , id'e say the area as a whole will look very green and effort have been made so as remove the enclosure walls from ground-level view.
Sounds like it will be interesting, worth having a look. I was wondering if the Healesville Sanctuary had any plans on keeping a pair of Goodfellows tree Kangaroos? with so few in zoos maybe Mel zoo could place a another pair here, another breeding pair would help boost the numbers in our region, a pair in each state zoo would be even better.
not only is heallesville restricted to displaying australian species only - it is actually only for displaying southern australian species. there are no crocodiles or cassowaries there either. it gets pretty cold out there. not sure if goodfellow's are very cold adapted. some NG species are, so they may be however. melbourne has two breeding pairs of tree-kangaroos at present and an off-limits breeding facility for marsupials. more imports are needed and i think melbourne hope to have a few breeding pairs all living at the zoo.
heres two articles on the new seal pool... http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/seal-of-approval/2006/05/21/1148150124425.html http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19214736%5E2862,00.html i don't think it will be as ambitious as the coastal section of taronga - but with a new, deeper pool, room for more seals and a seal theater - is should be pretty good. interestingly, it is being called an "upgrade" in the article, suggesting the seals will stay in the same location at the zoo. and the second article confirms my suspicions - the the zoo will ustilise the time upgrading the exhibit to feature new enclosures for penguins and other marine species in the area.
i did something tricky - though it might not be so accurate. i got the phot of the seal looking at the plans from the age website. although its very low res, you can make out the location of the central drive and elephant monument on the photos of the plans. then i got the image of the melbourne zoo map from the zoos website. i overlayed them using a transperancy filter and then set about re-adjusting the size and angle of the seal photo so that the garden beds and paths of the main drive matched in both images. the melb zoo map is not particuarly accurate, but if this little test is anything to go by, the seal enclosure is really going to be more of a "precinct" (at a cost of $20 million, i should have expected as much). it looks as though the new coastal section will extend all the way down to the picnic lawns which means the small cats and lion exhibits will all be demolished to make room!! this means over the next 3 years (the expected time it will take to construct) we will see lots of re-shuffling on animals. even if the lions and wild dogs end up directly adjacent - servals, bobcats, fishing cats, binturong and golden cats will all need new homes! should be cool!!
