Melbourne Zoo
Encyclopedia
The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 320 animal species from Australia
and around the world. The zoo
is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the centre of Melbourne
. It is accessible via Royal Park station
on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram routes 55
and 19
, as well as by bicycle on the Capital City Trail
. Bicycles are not allowed inside the zoo itself.
The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(WAZA).
. The zoo was opened on 6 October 1862 at the Royal Park
site of 55 acres (22.3 ha) on land donated by the City of Melbourne. Before this, animals were housed at the botanical gardens in Melbourne.
Initially the zoo was important for the acclimatisation of domestic animals recovering from their long trip to Australia. It was only with the appointment of Albert Alexander Cochrane Le Souef
in 1870 that more exotic animals were procured for public display, and the gardens and picnic areas were developed.
Visitors can see historical cages including the heritage listed Elephant House a, which has been renovated and adapted for use for customers paying to sleep overnight in tents at the zoo in popular Roar and Snore evenings. These evenings allow the public to see some of the nocturnal animals at the zoo in evening guided tours by keepers. One of the most famous exhibits was Queenie the elephant
.
The zoo is set among flower gardens and picnic areas. Many of the animals are now organised in bioclimatic zones: African rainforest featuring gorillas, mandrills, pigmy hippos and parrots; Asian Rainforest with tigers and otters; and the Australian Bush with koala, kangaroos, emu, echidnas and endangered hairy nose wombats. Popular exhibits also include the Butterfly house, the great flight aviary and the Trail of the Elephants. Melbourne Zoo recently obtained three new Asian Elephants from Thailand
amidst much controversy regarding their safety and well-being.
The zoo includes a large schools section and caters to many school visitors annually, its immensely popular education program encourages young minds to conserve animals.
The Zoological Board of Victoria administers the Melbourne Zoo, as well as the Werribee Open Range Zoo
which features herbivorous creatures in an open range setting; and Healesville Sanctuary
on 175 hectares (432.4 acre) of bushland exhibiting Australian fauna.
On the 15th January 2010 Melbourne Zoo welcomed its first Elephant calf. This is the second elephant calf born in Australia, the first being in Sydney in July 2009.
Melbourne Zoo new seal enclosure has been completed and was opened in December 2009.
Other exhibits at the zoo include enclosures for collared peccary, maned wolf, indian porcupine, snow leopard, Persian leopard, puma, Syrian brown bear, white-nosed coati, ring-tailed lemur, blue-and-yellow macaw, red panda, little penguin, hamadryas baboon, several species of tamarin, Brazilian agouti, Goodfellow's tree kangaroo, meerkat, quokka, platypus, De Brazza's monkey, Aldabra giant tortoise and bongo.
newspaper published allegations of animal cruelty at the zoo.
RSPCA Australia
President Hugh Wirth
accused the zoo of cover-ups of past involvement with the RSPCA and of putting "the dollar before animal welfare".
The acting chief executive of Melbourne Zoo, Matt Vincent, claimed the zoo's own investigations into the incidents had found no mistreatment of animals, and that the staff had been "devastated" by the allegations.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and around the world. The zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the centre of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. It is accessible via Royal Park station
Royal Park railway station, Melbourne
Royal Park is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Parkville, on the Upfield railway line. Royal Park is unmanned and in Metcard Zone 1.-Facilities:...
on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram routes 55
Melbourne tram route 55
Tram route 55 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from the corner of Bell Street and Melville Road in West Coburg to the Domain Road Interchange - Domain Road and St Kilda Road east of the city....
and 19
Melbourne tram route 19
Tram route 19 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from Flinders Street in the city centre to North Coburg in the northern suburbs. It runs through the suburbs of Melbourne, Parkville, Brunswick, Coburg, and Coburg North...
, as well as by bicycle on the Capital City Trail
Capital City Trail
The Capital City Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which circles the Melbourne city centre and some inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
. Bicycles are not allowed inside the zoo itself.
The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums is the "umbrella" organisation for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal care and welfare, conservation of biodiversity, environmental...
(WAZA).
History
Melbourne Zoo is Australia's oldest zoo and was modeled on London ZooLondon Zoo
London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...
. The zoo was opened on 6 October 1862 at the Royal Park
Royal Park, Melbourne
Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks . It is located north of the Melbourne Central Business District, Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville....
site of 55 acres (22.3 ha) on land donated by the City of Melbourne. Before this, animals were housed at the botanical gardens in Melbourne.
Initially the zoo was important for the acclimatisation of domestic animals recovering from their long trip to Australia. It was only with the appointment of Albert Alexander Cochrane Le Souef
Albert Alexander Cochrane Le Souef
Albert Alexander Cochrane Le Souef was an Australian zoologist.Le Souef was the director of the Melbourne Zoo from 1882 to 1902. He was the father of the zoologists Ernest Albert Le Souef, Dudley Le Souef and Albert Sherbourne Le Souef....
in 1870 that more exotic animals were procured for public display, and the gardens and picnic areas were developed.
Visitors can see historical cages including the heritage listed Elephant House a, which has been renovated and adapted for use for customers paying to sleep overnight in tents at the zoo in popular Roar and Snore evenings. These evenings allow the public to see some of the nocturnal animals at the zoo in evening guided tours by keepers. One of the most famous exhibits was Queenie the elephant
Queenie (elephant)
Queenie was an elephant who was used to give rides for children at Melbourne Zoo for 40 years.Queenie was a very popular exhibit, with large crowds of children often gathering around her enclosure even when she was not giving rides...
.
The zoo is set among flower gardens and picnic areas. Many of the animals are now organised in bioclimatic zones: African rainforest featuring gorillas, mandrills, pigmy hippos and parrots; Asian Rainforest with tigers and otters; and the Australian Bush with koala, kangaroos, emu, echidnas and endangered hairy nose wombats. Popular exhibits also include the Butterfly house, the great flight aviary and the Trail of the Elephants. Melbourne Zoo recently obtained three new Asian Elephants from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
amidst much controversy regarding their safety and well-being.
The zoo includes a large schools section and caters to many school visitors annually, its immensely popular education program encourages young minds to conserve animals.
The Zoological Board of Victoria administers the Melbourne Zoo, as well as the Werribee Open Range Zoo
Werribee Open Range Zoo
Werribee Open Range Zoo is an African themed zoo in Werribee, about south-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board or 'Zoos Victoria' which also includes Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary. It is situated on approximately and is located on...
which features herbivorous creatures in an open range setting; and Healesville Sanctuary
Healesville Sanctuary
Healesville Sanctuary, or the Sir Colin MacKenzie Fauna Park, is a zoo specializing in native Australian animals. It is located at Healesville in rural Victoria, Australia, and has a history of breeding native animals. It is one of only two places to have successfully bred a platypus, the other...
on 175 hectares (432.4 acre) of bushland exhibiting Australian fauna.
On the 15th January 2010 Melbourne Zoo welcomed its first Elephant calf. This is the second elephant calf born in Australia, the first being in Sydney in July 2009.
Melbourne Zoo new seal enclosure has been completed and was opened in December 2009.
Exhibits
- Trails of the Elephants: 5 Asian elephantAsian ElephantThe Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....
s - male Bong Su and females Mek Kapah, Dokkoon, Kulab and Num-oi - share 3 paddocks. There are 2 baby elephants. One, Mali (born 2010) and her half brother (born 2010) who is named Ongard. - Butterfly House: a greenhouse-style walk-through exhibit for tropical butterfliesButterflyA butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
. - Orangutan Sanctuary: a rotation exhibit for two families of orangutans (one consisting of pure Sumatran orangutanSumatran OrangutanThe Sumatran orangutan is one of the two species of orangutans. Found only on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia, it is rarer and smaller than the Bornean orangutan. The Sumatran orangutan grows to about tall and in males...
s and the other of Sumatran-Bornean hybrids) and a family of siamangs. The three enclosures are designed to represent an orangutan rehabilitation sanctuary in Sumatra. - Asian rainforest: the original portion of the Asian rainforest adjoins Trail of the Elephants and includes enclosures for Sumatran Tigers, Oriental Small-clawed OtterOriental Small-clawed OtterThe oriental small-clawed otter , also known as Asian small-clawed otter, is the smallest otter species in the world, weighing less than 5 kg. It lives in mangrove swamps and freshwater wetlands of Bangladesh, Burma, India, southern China, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines,...
s and two small aviaries for Asian birds. - Australian Outback: features kangaroos, emus, wombats, koalas, echidnas, lace monitors and a variety of small bird aviaries.
- Great Flight Aviary: a large free-flight aviary dating from the 1930s. Visitors walk along a boardwalk through three different bioregions representing an Australian rainforest, wetlands and bushland. Significant species include Southern Cassowary, Brolga, Royal Spoonbill, Eclectus Parrot and Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
- Savannah: Giraffes, zebras, ostrich and helmeted guineafowl.
- Lion Park: Four male lions (brothers born in 2000) currently live in this exhibit. Adjoining the lion enclosure is an exhibit for African Hunting Dogs.
- Wild Sea: This $20 million development will provide new exhibits for seals, little penguins, Australian pelicans and Fiddler Rays. With underwater sounds and a projector screen coupled with the beautiful lighting effects it has a calming touch of realism.
- Reptile house: contains a variety of Australian and exotic reptiles.
- African rainforest: the major exhibit at the centre of this area is for Western Lowland Gorillas. Five of the zoo's eight gorillas - silverback Rigo and females G-Ann, Yuska, Julia and Jumanto - live in the exhibit. Three batchelor males - Motaba and his sons Yakini and Ganyeka - have been recently transferred to Werribee Open Range Zoo. Also in the African rainforest is an exhibit for Mandrills and Pygmy hippos. Recently, the African rainforest has seen non-African species - pygmy marmosets, Asian small-clawed otters and European carp - displayed in this area.
- Treetop apes and monkeys: A series of netted enclosures viewed through glass windows from an elevated boardwalk. Species currently include white-cheeked gibbon, black-handed spider monkey, black-capped capuchin, black-and-white colobus, black-and-white ruffed lemur and common tree shrew.
- Small Cat alley: a series of relatively small enclosures for small carnivores. Species currently include serval, caracal, fishing cat and binturong.
Other exhibits at the zoo include enclosures for collared peccary, maned wolf, indian porcupine, snow leopard, Persian leopard, puma, Syrian brown bear, white-nosed coati, ring-tailed lemur, blue-and-yellow macaw, red panda, little penguin, hamadryas baboon, several species of tamarin, Brazilian agouti, Goodfellow's tree kangaroo, meerkat, quokka, platypus, De Brazza's monkey, Aldabra giant tortoise and bongo.
Controversy
On 19 January 2008, The AgeThe Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
newspaper published allegations of animal cruelty at the zoo.
RSPCA Australia
RSPCA Australia
RSPCA Australia is an Australian organisation that promotes animal welfare. It is funded in part by the Australian Government but relies on corporate sponsorship, fundraising events and voluntary donations for its income.RSPCA Australia defines its purpose as being the leading authority in animal...
President Hugh Wirth
Hugh Wirth
Dr Hugh John Wirth AM is an outspoken veterinarian and animal welfare advocate in Victoria, Australia. In March 2011 he celebrated 30 years as the resident vet on 774 ABC Melbourne.-Education and Employment:...
accused the zoo of cover-ups of past involvement with the RSPCA and of putting "the dollar before animal welfare".
The acting chief executive of Melbourne Zoo, Matt Vincent, claimed the zoo's own investigations into the incidents had found no mistreatment of animals, and that the staff had been "devastated" by the allegations.