I've decided to put this up as we currently don't have a species list for Werribee. I counted some of the animals on display, but keep in mind, there may have been some off display. Mammals: Eastern Grey Kangaroo - 2.11 Tammar Wallabies Koala - 0.2 Eastern Barred Bandicoot Western Lowland Gorilla - 3.0 Motoba (1983), Yakini (1999), Ganyeka (2000) Vervet Monkey African Wild Dog - 4.0 African Lion - 2.1 Sheru (2016), Nilo (2012), Asali (2017) Common Hippo - 0.5 Brindabella (1990), Primrose (1990), Tulip (2003), Lotus (2008), Pansy (2013) Serval - 0.2 Nanki (2012), Morilli (2012) Cheetah - 0.1 Kulinda (2012) Slender Tailed Meerkat Bison - 11 individuals Prezwalski's Horse - 8 individuals Dromedary Camel - 1.4 Scimitar Horned Oryx Nyala Addax - at least two off display Blackbuck Ankole Cattle - three individuals Southern White Rhino - 2.4 Umgana (1988), Kifaru (2009), Make (1984), Letaba (1992), Sisi (1996), Kipenzi (2013) Zebra - 4.9 Eland - 20 individuals Waterbuck - 2.4 Giraffe - 5.0 Amani (2007), Harold (2008), Kona (2008), Ajali (2010), Jelani (2010) Birds Emu - 12 individuals Ostrich - 5.8 Helmeted Guineafowl Plains Wanderer Orange Bellied Parrot Reptiles Dumeril's Boa Leopard Tortoise Eastern Blue Tongue Lizard Shingleback Lizard
Yes, I thought so yet recently the keepers on the safari tour are now calling them 'Ankole Cattle', which must be a mistake. They've now been moved off display.
Population of Indian antelope and Lowland nyala in Werribee’s Woodlands habitat are given here: zoo_290417_02.jpg | Wyndham Werribee Open Range Zoo is home to a flock of eight Ostriches and herds of 30 Blackbuck and 13 Lowland nyala in its Woodlands habitat – one of multiple habitats that form part of the wider zoo Savannah.
They do have around thirty Blackbuck in the Woodlands habitat, alongside an additional six males who live in the Upper Savannah. So that’s 36 individuals in total. Regarding the Nyala; that sounds about right. During my last visit they were off display, but they’ve always had quite a middle sized breeding group.
Werribee Virtual Tours For those who have never visited, Zoos Victoria have posted these two virtual tours, which offer a fascinating insight into both their walking trail and safari bus route: Walking Trails: Safari Bus (Mixed Species):
Great question! The Safari ride starts off with three large paddocks on the right housing American Bison and Mongolian Wild Horse. On the left is a drive through enclosure which you then turn into and it houses Dromedary Camel and Scimitar Horned Oryx. That's the Arid Zone. Next up is a drive through Common Hippo enclosure which houses mother and daughter, Brindabella and Pansy. It's ingeniously designed so the bus drives through a shallow part of the water. Following that is the Waterhole which holds female Ostrich and Blackbuck. Then, the tour takes you down and across a bridge over the Werribee River, and then up a hill where there's a single on display enclosure which held a male Plains Zebra as of my last visit. This enclosure used to hold Texas Longhorns of which are now off display. Then you go down the hill and into the eighty acre Lower Savannah which features Giraffe, Plains Zebra, White Rhino, Waterbuck, Giant Eland, Lowland Nyala and male Ostrich. The safari tour then heads back through each of the respective areas, giving you one final glance at each of the species before you arrive back at the safari station. They also have their Texas Longhorns and Addax off display; both of which are planned to be phased out.
Thank you so much these are so helpful! Thank you, I really appreciate the list and all the details! Also I thought there were no giant eland in Australia?
You’re very welcome. And you’re correct, there is no Giant eland (Taurotragus derbianus) in Australia. Werribee has Common eland (Taurotragus oryx), which is also held at Altina, Monarto, the Canberra National Zoo and Taronga Western Plains Zoo.
You're welcome. As @Zoofan15 said we only have Common Eland; that was my mistake. Werribee also used to hold Lesser Kudu, but they died out after the last male (about 15 years ago) was castrated.
It’s perfectly fine! That’s such a shame, leave it to Melbourne to ruin an exotic species population in Australia
Werribee actually had Greater kudu (not Lesser kudu). This was the note from the exotic mammals thread: A trio (1.2) was imported by Werribee from Honolulu Zoo (USA) in 1996. The last male in the country was castrated and he died in 2008, at which time there were still seven females. The last female at Werribee appears to have died in 2016. In 1987/88 a trio (2.1) had also been imported from the UK to the Pearl Coast Zoo but these went to the Tipperary Wildlife Sanctuary after the zoo's closure, and then to the Mary River Station (and have since died out there).
Some questionable management decisions have been made by Zoos Vic over the years. Unfortunately some guy thought it was fine to castrate the last male Kudu. Yes, he was related to the females I believe, but there were other females elsewhere and inbred Kudu are better than none whatsoever.
The male castrated at Werribee would have been related to the females as the founder base was only 1.2. They’ve happily inbred generations of Indian antelope and many other species, so I’d assume the reason for phase out was for preference as there was no reason they couldn’t inbreed (or source from Tipperary/Mary River). Kudu are an excellent choice for mixed species exhibits as the males aren’t highly aggressive like some other intact male antelopes. They can hybridise with Common eland and Lowland nyala though, which is something to consider.
Yes, I believe he was an offspring of the original trio. Werribee's Indian Antelope possibly were inbred, but no longer are; they've imported males from elsewhere in the region over the last decade to sustain their group (although these males were probably still distantly related to Werribee's stock). Meanwhile, Werribee's male Kudu possibly would've been a full/half sibling of the females; and since Werribee wasn't supported breeding this species, and Kudu aren't necessarily a species the public would go to see, a phase out was always on the horizon.
Kudu Hybrids Kudu-Eland hybrid: Kudu-Nyala hybrid: Photo source: Huntable non-indigenous, introduced species in RSA or Namibia?
The entire regional population of Indian antelope is believed to descend from three pairs imported by Taronga Zoo in the early 1900’s. They bred them in large numbers and the New Zealand population was similarly founded by an import from Taronga Zoo in 1967 by Auckland Zoo. This stock in turn supplied Wellington and Hamilton Zoo - with additional imports from Altina. Unfortunately Indian antelope aren’t on the live import list for Australia, so even with the Bovid IRA now complete, there would need to be additional work done to see them imported. We similarly can’t import Barbary sheep at this point in time, which are equally inbred.
Werribee imported 2.6 Chapman's zebra from Rotterdam Zoo in 1980, which was supplemented by the import a stallion from Singapore Zoo in the late 1990’s. Sadly this herd has since become hybridised like the once purebred herds of Grant’s zebra at Auckland and Hamilton Zoo.
