Rhinos to australia Zoo » Australia Zoo

23-02-2008

@Mark: thanks for the information, and I'm sure that the African Savannah, railway station, hotel, etc will all cost a small fortune. The Madagascan Island at 2 acres is another terrific future addition.

@Patrick: a great point about the success of Australia Zoo, as the Irwin fame definitely has been the # 1 reason why it has risen in stature internationally. As you have pointed out there really aren't many animals there, and only a handful of non-Aussie species...and yet the attendance figures have steadily been climbing skywards each and every year. The situation is similar to Montreal's biodome in Canada, with only small animals and 4 exhibits drawing close to a million people a year. Once again, a case has been presented where mega-fauna is not required...

Australia Zoo
23-02-2008

NZers have known about this "zoo" run by the Crocodile Hunter , aka Steve Irwin , mainly through TV series , but also through travel agents .
But until fairly recently , it was assumed that it was more of an Australian reptile Centre than an actual zoo .
My folks are not interested in animals , but they think that it is a huge reptile centre ( on the basis of what was shown on TV )
This is probably what gave it an "edge" as far as foreign visitors are concerned .
As there are very few Aust. reptiles in NZ ( give or take a few goannas at best ) this place would have attracted NZers wanting to see crocs , venomous snakes and the like .
My main reason for visiting this place was to see as many Australian snakes as possible , and to get to hold a python all by myself

23-02-2008

well for a zoo that cant make do without 'mega fauna' there are three, rather large glaring exceptions to this, as well as a few big cats or two.
and the future plans for Australia Zoo throw this idea right out. im not arguing that zoos cant make do without mega fauna, but in a region where, if you didnt include any great apes, elephants, rhino, bear species, big cats or giraffe, youre not left with alot of other choices, the argument becomes a bit less simplistic.
i mean, you can plonk a biodome (SWW) type of development smack bang in the middle of this countries biggest city, but its no guarantee youre going to get enoguh visitors...theyre in strife
anyway, back to australia zoo. Pat hit the nail on the head with his comment about Australia Zoo being based on a whole lot of nothing. ive never been before, and im very excited about its future, but im not about to go all the way up there to see a reptile collection about the size of that of the Gosford Reptile Park, and a few exotics.
if this zoo continues its future growth along the lines of regional plans then it has an exciting future, but they will need 'key' wildlife attractions, because, in the main, people go to a zoo to see animals, not people and especialy not dead ones. and although im sure the money and visitors are still pouring in, the zoo has lots its biggest star. bring on the animals. given Australia Zoos proximity to Australias third largest city and the tourist mecca of SE QLD, its current attendance figures are strong but not amazing...they need new landmark attractions and probably within 3-4 years.

24-02-2008

I read in an Australian magazine that Brisbane (and the SE corner of Queensland) was arguably the fastest growing area in the country. I think that the death of Steve Irwin will be more than offset by the Madagascan Island, African Savannah, hotel, railway, etc exhibits...and that Australia Zoo has a massive amount of bottled-up potential. The amount of land that they have at their disposal is enormous, and so expanding the collection will definitely occur within a few years.

24-02-2008

There's a distinct parallel here with Gerald Durrell's Jersey Zoo, again because of the high profile 'personality' owner. Even now Durrell's collection is still lacking in megafauna- the few exceptions being Gorillas, Orangutans and Spectacled Bears(the latter hardly a high profile species) yet because he sowed the conservation message so widely, Jersey Zoo flourished despite that. It is quite unique in that respect among UK zoos (though its not technically in the UK)

In the Australia Zoo case, it seems they do intend to aquire all the 'biggies' in due course and turn it into a more traditional large animal collection. It just seems to have taken a long time in its transformation from 'crocodile park' (excuse me if that's unfair, I wasn't a particular fan ..) or whatever it started out as being.

One interesting thing is how Australia Zoo will develop now Steve Irwin is no longer there to run it. In Durrell's case, after he died the funds began to dry up and the zoo definately lost some of its celebrity- in fact its been quite hard up of late.. But I guess Steve Irwin's family (durrell had no family, only a wife or two..) are strongly motivated to continue making it grow and succeed.

24-02-2008

Snowleopard, If you go to the Australia zoos website and look at the, zoo news Archives "October 2007 zoo-ming to expansion" should give you some of the infomation you have been asking about .

Also on their website they state they want to build the worlds largest Gorilla exhibit.

24-02-2008

I think it's interesting to note, that Bindi is gradually becoming more and more famous. Possibly taking on her father's role as ambassador and icon?

(I may be wrong, but judging by appearances and the website...)

Some very interesting plans lined up for the future as well.
A 2 acre lemur exhibit!! That's nearly as big as Chester's elephant paddock...

24-02-2008

Jimmy you are quite right in what you say, they do have some interesting plans, In regards to the Lemur exhibit it should be a big success, at least they have lots of room

24-02-2008

@Mark: thanks once again for the information, and I tracked down the gorilla data on the website. A month or so ago there were some sceptical members of ZooBeat questioning the possibility of gorillas being added to the collection, but Australia Zoo clearly wishes to add them at some point down the road.

How often do you visit Australia Zoo? Are you within an hour or so of the park?

24-02-2008

Snowleopard, I have not been there for quite some time as I have been snowed under with to many other things, I will go again as soon as the Lemur Island is open. It would take me almost two hours to reach there.

24-02-2008

I too am waiting for some new exhibits to open before I visit again.

24-02-2008

but im not about to go all the way up there to see a reptile collection about the size of that of the Gosford Reptile Park, and a few exotics.

quote from Glyn


fair call . NSW has Eric Worrall , whom I respect very much . And easier to take than Steve Irwin . But as QLD doesnt really have a zoo like the other cities ( or towns , in the case of Mogo ) the fact that there are now a steady trickle of exotics arriving at Australia Zoo , and the fact that it is being expanded/upgraded is great news for our QLD folk .
Give it another 10 years and it might start living up to its name as AUSTRALIA zoo ( it sort of gives the idea as if it is the premier zoo in Aust )

But you folk in NSW and VIC have good zoos in your states , with NZ and other states not far behind -- in fact , I will put Auckland Zoo up in the top 5 zoos of the region

26-02-2008

[quote=patrick;

right now i imagine a big focus is on acquiring young elephants.[/QUOTE]

You would think so Pat, It will be interesting to see where they go with this, they can really offer a new herd a huge land area if they want and even the presant area for the three old girls is claimed to be the largest in Oz.

27-02-2008

The Australia Zoo elephant enclosure appears to be a little barren, but at least it offers an enormous amount of space. Do they have 3 Asian elephants, and if I remember correctly are all 3 rather old? If the zoo were to import some new, young blood then that would not only be yet another boost to tourism, but it would also allow Australia to have a decent variety of elephants between Brisbane and Melbourne.

Also, what is the deal with Bob Irwin being "forced out" of the zoo he helped conceive? Anyone know anything that isn't in the tabloids?

27-02-2008

The suggestion to build up a herd with the elderly females already at Australia Zoo makes no sense. These are old individuals and require a different tack from elephant care staff than new + young boisterous and highly socialised elephants they would envisage to import. It would simply mean having to separate herds for 2 totally different sets of management criteria.

People who are inclined to believe this to be so, simply underestimate the nature of integrating elephant members without any family attachments to oneanother. Besides ... integrating new individuals into an established herd is no mean task either. Most elderly elephants in zoos were kept alone or in unsuitable conditions when younger (and thus are sometimes less social than one might think them to be) and this will also have affected the elderly females at Australia Zoo. A very unwise decision ............. to go through with