Werribee to Disneyland » Werribee Open Range Zoo

07-04-2008

I'm reserving my comments at this stage ;-) but this thread is a most fascinating read!

07-04-2008

this proposal is so disgustingly inappropriate for so many reasons.

firstly theres the idea of giving away/selling a public asset like werribee zoo to a private company. werribee runs smoothy, is growing and internationally recognised as a "good zoo". its not desperately in need of lifeline or massive injection on funding. its doing well, its growing and its well respected.

not only am i staunchly opposed to the zoo being sold off - i'm opposed to the zoo selling off any of its valuable land as well. even land it currently does not utilise. its short-sighted stupidity.

then there is the gross inappropriateness of commercialising a pre-existing conservation institution. a commercial venture contributing to conservation is one thing, but turning a conservation venture into a commercial one not only diminishes that institutions respect as a conservation force it also belittles nature itself.

it says to me, animals are not interesting enough in their own right. we need to dress them up in music, junk food and rollercoasters to make appealing and appreciated. we now this isn't true. modern zoos are not having problems with attendance. in fact, some are pulling bigger crowds than ever before....

theme parks have never quite succeeded in coming to fruition in melbourne indeed, they don't even mange to succeed in sydney. i sincerely doubt melbournians are going to be radically impressed with "african safari world"
or flocking there in droves, especially not in winter. its not our cities thing, or image.

and lastly and importantly if i'm wrong and this park does do well - then "african safari world" is going to be poaching business from our other victorian zoos. see it doesn't matter if werribee grows at the expense of melbourne, or vise versa, since they are one and the same. one zoo can subsidise another.

but privatise werribee and suddenly melbourne has a competitor.

make no mistake - safari world will be importing african elephants, gorillas and any other mega-mammal they can get their hands on...

then what? in ten years time will we be talking of closing melbourne zoo?

i can't even stress how mad i am!!

07-04-2008

i too am disgusted. firstly there is the principle of State Governments selling off part of, wholly or whatever a State/public good which the Victorian tax-payer has supported for years.
What next? A Myer in the Melbourne Museum? McDonalds taking over State Parliment? Victorian Zoos are a public institution and should remain such.
I agree with every point that Patrick has made. A zoo is no place for a theme-park and especialy not one like Weribee, which, as Patrick said is hardly struggling to remain financially viable.
I doubt this plan will ever get off the ground. But I am not at all excited by the prospect of it. I dont believe animal welfare would be compromised, thats not my concern. You can soundproof night dens etc. But I do have the same concerns I had when Sydney Aquarium announced it would be opening SWW.
Look at whats happening there. Visitation is not as high as the share-holders hoped for, they have withdrawn their ARAZPA membership and one really does wonder, after visiting it for myself, how much learning is going on? Do you want your dose of nature hermogetically, neatly packaged? Grand savanah vistas juxtaposed against roller coasters, rapid rides and popcorn stands? Retail outlets (hell why not just build a Mega-Market and be done with it) stuffing toys and food and junk and more resource exploiting crap down people's throats and into token 'enviro' bags.
Deep down I think that if ever there was an Australian city to knock this plan flat on its arse it would be Melbourne, where the people are a little more cultured and they do seem to give a dam about the Govt selling off public assets. Would other forum members be annoyed if WWF was taken over by Burger King? or Greenpeace floated itself on the Stock Exchange and BHP became its biggest share holder.
This proposal is more than a zoo getting a few rides. It is about a credible scientific, research and conservation institution currently owned by the Victorian people being privatised and all the above mentioned going down the drain.
What happens if it is approved to Melbourne Zoo? Or Healesville? These institutions are part of our national heritage and the State Govt is under obligation to ensure they remain viable; not insert competitors into a market which they shouldnt even be competing in. The mechanisms of economic rationalisation have already positioned zoos are tourism destinations within which they must compete (and they are doing so quite well). But at what cost to the greater cause? For a forum supposed to be enlightened about the real role of zoos and their future I would not expect to see any supporters on here for a project which may hinder the capacity of these genuine conservation instituions to conduct their work.

07-04-2008

This, I think is very interesting. . . Village roadshow has had it's chances in the past, recent past for this similar opportunity at it's gold coast properties. . . I wonder where the ideas for this have come from. . .

07-04-2008

Patrick and Glyn, you have stated my concerns much better than I ever could.
I was told today that there is nothing wrong with Seaworld, they have great exhibts such as Polar Bear shores, do a lot of conservation work for Moretan Bay and so on. All of that is true. But Seaworld wasn't built as a zoo then changed in midcourse to be something else. Werribee is already a zoo, a world class zoo that as Pat says, is not struggling financially, is celebrated in its own right for what it already is. Expand on that, continue creating inovative exhibits like Hippo River, expand the savannah concept and why on earth introduce something that is so totally inappropriute to a truelly cultered area, the whole precinct is valuable because it isn't about the lowest common denomoinator. If Victoria wants a fun park, fine just do it elsewhere.

07-04-2008

What do you find particulary fascinating ZooPro, perhaps our 'possesiveness' of Werribee? Or our unwillingness to even consider the idea?

07-04-2008

If Victoria wanted a fun park it would already have it, or Luna Park would be bigger.
I dont know what I am more afraid of. that the fun park idea would be succesful and the animals would become a quaint backdrop, or it would fizzle out and go through the sort of declining visitation that Disney's Animal Kingdom suffered, when it would be either offloaded or down sized and Victoria would be stuck without a premier open-range zoo and rather a mediocre theme park with animals.
The only certainty is that conservation (besides [i]breeding programs which can make a useful smokescreen) would go out the window. say goodbye to recovery programs and all the rest.
its only through Weribee following its current course of development along the lines of a zoo that its true purpose can be realised. It was established as a subsidary to Melbourne Zoo; Zoos Victoria and the Victorian public have a vested interest in seeing that it remains that way. Without Weribee, Zoos Victoria's future role in conservation would be incredibly impacted, and ARAZPA could lose a vital player. Financially, for example, it makes sense to stick with ASMP's. But what if the $$$$ loaded consortium behind Warners purchased Weribee, withdrew its participation form half a dozen ASMP programs and then turned around imported a whole new range of species.......(fat American Warner Investor) "those brown horses are supposed to be endangered but they are just ****ing brown horses, lets get rid of them".
This may all seem a little melodramatic, but this sort of thing stinks.
And morally, it is incredibly scary to think that a private company can 'acquire' a public asset, especialy when this asset doesnt need offloading.
Privitisation of the energy, water and health sectors, education. This issue needs to be looked at in the broader context. It is truly maddening to think a company would have the audacity to pull such a move. And makes you wonder, whats next? Selling national parks to developers?

08-04-2008

That last comment is not so far off as you might think. There are always rumbles about letting private business develop resorts etc within National Parks and I know that Qld Govt is actually quite keen on the idea.

08-04-2008

thanks, glyn as always for helping to articulate our collective views.

this weasel they call the premier, he lack any vision whatsoever. when bracks stood down i was so hoping john thwaites would take over. instead he too resigned, as they both hate brumby. now i know why....

note that they want something to werribee to compete on the world stage with disney and busch gardens - neither of which are zoos. trying to compare it to SDWAP might be a bit more relevant.

hey i'm all for futher development of werribee, i propose an asian river safari to compliment the existing african bus safari - but only so long as it stays a open range zoo, entirely in zoos victorias hands, with theme park next door.

and if zoos victoria directors and CEO's continue to bloody support this idea, i'm no longer visiting their zoos. instead i will become a zoo "freedom fighter"...

08-04-2008

Judging by further news reports and articles in the Age I think we can say goodbye to the Werribee as we know it and as it should be. I am particularly disapointed by the comments of the Board Chairman, Mr Fairley, who has come out in support of the idea. His only concern seems to be who will control the animals, not about what WORZ is and should be about.
If it goes ahead I will no longer be visiting any of the Victorias Zoos, Adelaide will become my destination of choice. Monarto at least is heading in the right direction.
I find it very sad that it is thought, that the only way to attract people to see animals is by bribing theme with cheap thrills, ala roller coasters. As Pat says this demeans the very essence of wildlife and nature. I am currently undergoing a conversion about zoos and if this is the way that our zoos are going to progress then I can no longer give them any credibility for existance. May Taronga,Perth and Adelaide not progress this way, otherwise I will definately become Anti-Zoos. What a complete farce.

08-04-2008

zoos victoria can choke and die. a bunch of business-obsessed CEO's with zero vision.

they would be better of hiring a chief creative team from the advertising industry. seriously. they would come up with waaaaay better exhibits, ideas and direction.

08-04-2008

oh, i think we gave a pretty good argument already to "why not" zooboy..

fortunately, at least officially, zoosvictoria is maintaining that they do not support the proposal..

Village Roadshow Proposal - Zoos Victoria


however, it scares me to death that at least unofficially - there seems to be a lot of interest by all parties.

08-04-2008

........ petition?

08-04-2008

@patrick: "zoos Victoria can choke and die". Wow, you are definitely pissed off with the rollercoaster plans. It will be interesting to see what comes from all of this publicity, and whether Melbourne Zoo's attendance will be threatened or boosted.

08-04-2008

I'd sign it. How Can we create an online one that then could be sent to the Premiers department?