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Werribee Open Range Zoo werribee zoo visit...

Discussion in 'Australia' started by patrick, 18 Jun 2007.

  1. patrick

    patrick Well-Known Member

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    visted werribee yesterday. cold and raining, i was supprised to still get a good look at the animals. primarily i went to see the new hippo exhibit and i was very impressed. despite the lack of underwater viewing, you certainly do get a nice up close look at the animals. the design has cleverly integrated the 3 seperate enclosures into one continuous riverbank and the fact that the safari bus actually drives through one end of the river is a nice touch, at least from the visitor perspective. i particuarly liked the addition of the "kubu queen" barge and the decking area around the two very large transplanted ficus trees was avery attractive spot to watch the hippo from.

    from someone who only a few years ago whinged about the lack of attempts to "africanise" the werribee zoo landscape, i must say i am very impressed with how far they have come in such a short time. even if there is a few washingtonia palms mixed in with the senegal (whats happeneing to me!) - the landscaping is great.

    i dare say - look out dubbo, werribee takes their time and expands slowly, but when they do they do it well. the close proximity to melbourne city, the fact that the entire zoo (including all the buildings and exhibits) are new and modern, the fact that it is built around the popular "safari" concept - these are all elements that are the foundations for them to potentially become australias most visited open range zoo.

    on the downside - the zoo seems to be fast running out of animals on the safari tour. not only is their less species on display, i couldn't help but notice the herd sizes of some appeared smaller than ever before. the lower savannah seems somewhat empty - whilst they ahve planty of rhino, they are down to just two giraffe (anthony is still alive and kicking for those rothschild's fans however) the eland herd seemd smaller than i remember and i saw no waterbuck anywhere at the zoo either (they may be there but i certainly didn't see any - and i look). the kudu herd, that has never been known to breed so long as i have been visiting is no longer on display behind the hippos. i didn't see them anywhere at all. nor did i see a single ostrich a species that added a nice touch to the numerous african paddocks in the past.

    but since it is feeling a little empty in the ungulate dpt, i wonder why the zoo doesn't place the african buffalo on display (i saw one grazing between the trees in an off-diaply yard). i wonder where the kudu went, it seems obvuous they will never breed (indeed maybe their is a reason - the male is castrated and they are all related?), but they make a much welcome addition. you'd think the asian paddock would be easily stocked up for interest sake but instead the chital herd seems to have dwindled to virtually nothing, due to the zoos reluctance to breed them. the blackbuck herd seems very small now too and the asian buffalo, who used to all wallow in the dam in the paddock and recieve a bit of interest have long gone from the display.

    the zoo walking trails finally have some substance to them but the safari is feeling rather, well, all about rhino. quite literally, i think it needs a few more animals to talk about. the guide sepnt considerable time talking about cheetah - an animal on the trails - to fill time in empty exhibits.

    understanding the import artiodactyl issues - i think the zoo best get themselves some more asian buffalo, breed up the chital and blackbuck, throw in a few peacocks, get some banteng and wapiti (for the bison paddock) and put those african buffalo, ostriches and kudu back on display.

    the upside is that the addax and bison had quite a few calves the vervets had a bunch of newborns and the guide said they hoped/expected a couple of the female rhino and mongolian horses were pregnant which was nice.

    anyhow, little quibbles aside, its a great-looking zoo on a perfect peice of land, in the perfect spot and has so much potential. i look forward to seeing it expand over the years.
     
  2. Coquinguy

    Coquinguy Well-Known Member

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    i also reckon weribbe could become one of Australia's premier zoos in the future, simply for the reasons you've already said-its proximity to the city. though I guess if Western Plains Zoo moves into a more sustainable business footing in the future and attracts renewed capital investment then it should remain 'Australia's Greatest Open-range Zoo' for reasons that need to be seen to be understood ;) YOU HAVE TO GO TO WPZ!!! However, the future of all our open-range zoos will shift dramatically whateer tourism patterns occur etc, becuase of quarantine and artiodactyl collapse.

    One things for sure, Weribee will never become great if it has no animals on display, lol. Like you said, beef things up. Its not so much quantity that matters but quality. Get those off-display animals out on display! I dunno about chucking in all the deer, theyre just somehting you have to kill later when they breed up (sigh). But sizable herds of addax and oryx, im all for that. And hunting dogs, baboons etc.
    I would love to see Weribee developed even more in its current direction, giving the chance for Zoos Vic to operate complmentary attractions that feed off each other; in the future Melbourne could focus even more on forest species if Weribee becomes more famous. If i was Guy Cooper Id pack most of Taronga's African stock of to Dubbo too, but its not so practical for Sydney to do this as it is for Melbourne, alas.
    But two giraffes, in an open range zoo, now thats poor!!!

    Pat, how did you get there? Can you walk from Weribee station? Im just paranoid about getting stuck there next time in Melbourne if i miss the last bus....then again maybe it'd be safer driving than catching the train. and ill have to wear my bullet proof vest too.
     
  3. Coquinguy

    Coquinguy Well-Known Member

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    and also, Weribee needs more self-directed experiences, like what its investing in at the moment, in order to build on the 'value for money' factor. Adding extra exhibits of wild dog, primates and maybe even otter (dare i suggest indian rhino too) lol
     
  4. ZooPro

    ZooPro Well-Known Member

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    It's a long, long walk from the station glynn! You can catch a bus that goes down K Road, or see if you can find a cab near the station. It would cost about $10 I'm guessing. Almost as cheap to hire a little car for the day from town, and you wouldn't have to dodge the bullets (even though I think that's a mean statement about Werribee :mad:).
     
  5. Coquinguy

    Coquinguy Well-Known Member

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    haha i wasnt referring to that, and im not a deer anyway. i was talking about the fatal shootings in the CBD this morning. what a tragedy.
     
  6. Coquinguy

    Coquinguy Well-Known Member

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    thanks for the heads up too.
     
  7. patrick

    patrick Well-Known Member

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    yes they certainly need more giraffe. especially since they have a giraffe encounter now and a special patform for feeding them on.
    since they are a batchelor-only holders there, even if melbourne, who breed plenty of giraffe, have no surplus males at present, you'd think monarto would have a few - afterall isn't that their job? to provide the rest of the zoos with giraffes!;) interesetingly, they always discuss giraffe subspecies on the tour and point aout anthony as an example of a pure rothschild retired after spreading his genes well within the population. the other males (or male as it now is) are explained as being hybrids, therefore undesireable within the zoo population and brought to werribee to avoid them breeding. apparently hybrid giraffes have health problems so zoos dont breed them!
     
  8. Coquinguy

    Coquinguy Well-Known Member

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    health problems which i guess stem from inbreeding levels and not being 'hybrids' as such. given that maintaining rothschild giraffes in Australia is of 0 conservation value zoos vic should just get over the purity thing and start displaying more hybrid giraffes. after all, that all any giraffe in Australia is good for really.
    do you know what developments are planned for Weribee i the future and what are the likely locations pat?
     
  9. jay

    jay Well-Known Member 20+ year member

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    Werribee is an interesting area with its mixture of farms, suburbs etc. As Zoopro says it is really easy and inexpensive to hire a car for a day and drive, a lot easier than going by bus or taxi, something I have done. It is a long walk from the zoo entrance to the main road Glyn if you think missing the last bus is bad try doing it with five children under the age of 10!
    I'm glad you liked the hippos Pat, I think it is a great exhibit and really works well. The last time I was there I was able to see 4 hippos quite well all at the same time.
    It will be interesting to see where Werribee will go in the future.
    Let's hope that there are a couple of rhino births in the near future.
    Won't both Monarto and Dubbo have several young male giraffes, born a year or two ago, needing a new home soon?
     
  10. patrick

    patrick Well-Known Member

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    i know the boardwalk to the river is opening by the end of the year. visitors will be able to walk down there from the lions and have a picnic amongst the revegetated riverbank. thats hardly an attraction though so much as an improvement.

    i remember we discussed a proposed masterpan that floated around here for a bit (ask zooboy). i'm pretty sure it wasn't much on what the zoo looks like now except for batchelor rhinos displayed in one of the upper paddocks and a wild-dog drive through. the zoo already has a couple of old ex-melbourne wild dogs i believe - off display of course!;).

    i think putting all 10 or so rhino on display shouldn't really be a major priority for the zoo right now. visitors already get a very good look at a good six or so around the lower savannah. instead i woulds say getting those melbourne baboons particuarly on display (primates are always popular), as well as the wild dogs would be better.

    an african savannah aviary or two would be a cheap "filler" also (provided they already have an aviculturalist employed at the park).

    obviously in the long run i hope the zoo sticks closely to its grassland theme, but better expands it to include asian and south amarican species in both trails and safari exhibits.