Werribee to Disneyland » Werribee Open Range Zoo

08-04-2008

wouled rather that Werribee be closed than compromised bu a theme park. What you don't seem to get Zoo-boy is that a ntheme park at Werribee zoo destroys its integrity and credability. An organisation like Roadshow is not about conservation or education, it is about making money. Pleasing the shareholder sis it sfirst and most important priority. And as the latge shareholders are not people like you or me but other large companies, then they are going to want lots of profits. If conservation gets in the way of that than conservation goes out the door.
The credibilty gets compromised because of this. Sure places like Seaworld and Dreamworld can donate lots of money to conservation efforts, but at the expense of people truelly valuing wildlife. Do you really think that the thoousands of extra people going would be going to see animals. No they won't, they could have visited before. They'll be bgoing to ride rollercoasters and water slides. The animals become a sideshow, something to look at for an hour while you are waiting for the queues at the rides to die down a little. People don't go to Dreamworld to see the tigers. The majority of people who visit dreamworld don't give a stuff for them, other than to say "Oh how cute"
Seaworld is a little better because about half of it is devoted to the animals and they have siper exhibits like Polar Bear Shores and Shark Bay. But Seaworld was never a zoo that got converted into a thempark. It was always going to be a themepark.
Why cant Werribee continue to create great exhibiits like Hippo River without the fun fair? It's not a struggling zoo. And don;t forget that the thousands of jobs quoted are not permanent. As soon as the theme park is built most of those jobs will be lost, leaving only a few hundred to run the park.
Why not have the Fun Park bit somewhere other than Werribee.
By the way Zoo-Boy, I can't remeber have you visited Werribee?

08-04-2008

I have seen werribee, i have seen all behind the scences of werribee, i love it, hence why i do not support it being taken over.

The natural environments for can nt be replicated- even by disney.

And don you all worry i totally understand- AND even agree with all your comments, itruely want to see this play out- and seeplans proposals.

I am against a take over, or a full scale merger.

I think zoos vic, imo from media statements can see werribe can very easily be ripped from its control, and is planning wisely, trying to negotiate workng with.

08-04-2008

the fact that Weribee could be ripped from Zoos Victoria is one of the scariest parts.
its a bit like us waking up tomorrow listening to the news that Morris Iemma has offloaded Taronga Zoo to James Packer.
as Jay pointed out the people investing in companies like Village Roadshow are not interested in conservation-its all about profits. and we cannot educate our fellow human beings about wise stewardship of the planets resources in a theme park environment geared towards spending and making cash. if this issue does play out then it will be the biggest backward step in zoo evolution the region's industry has witnessed.
there are more than enough examples of animals and conservation being compromised by private companies and individuals....
=the Mareeba issue clearly demonstrates what happens when an individual not truly accountable to the public can get away with in terms of animal welfare
=Sydney Attractions Group revoking its membership in ARAZPA. This organisations involvement may have only been a farsical smokescreen but its another example
an finally what happens when these animal-based attractions do go balls up? an economic slump, downturn in tourism and the first thing a private company does is start selling off assets. What if Weribee Zoo Theme Park stopped showing profits? sell it off again? Close it?
This is an absolutely ridiculous thing to even be considering let alone debating
btw can we watch our spelling? cant hardly understand some posts. and btw part 2....where is Patrick? hiding under his bed hoping this will all go away in the morning?

08-04-2008

EXACTLY GLYN U TOTALLY MISSED MY POINT

werribee and zoos vic idetifies it can have in my opinion is best assest ripped from them- HENCE they are seeing if they can work with them, i have no doub to make money the govt would ripp it from there hands, and that would be the worst day in australian zoos historys, so the zoo can see this comming, therefore is planning smart asking for details, and possible to retain control of animal mangement.

ALSO a note on the packers- did you know kerry actually provided alot of funds to set up wpz and the black rhino project- he nearly paid totally for the afcilities an import, but allowed womens day to take the spot light. had to set it straight

08-04-2008

sorry zooboy probably couldnt understand your point because of spelling

08-04-2008

and yeh i knew about kerry packer. he was a good man; for his property in SCONE he only purcased goods locally, paying premium price because he believed in supporting local community.man had some values

09-04-2008

zooboy, apart from the fact that neither of those posts make any sense, i suspect you still are looking at it purely from a "this will give the zoo more money" perspective.

glyn is absolutely correct in saying this is a lot bigger than that. this is about essentially giving away a viable, working, problem-free public asset to a private company.

glyn, your spot on. it undermines everything.

09-04-2008

Zoo-Boy, I think I do undestand your view. Better to give a little (or a lot) and retain some control over the end product than to have the zoo completely ripped away from you. I just don't agree with it. I'm not very good at beinf pragmatic, I tend to be too idealistic. To me it would be better to close the place than to compromise it. But now I'm repeating myself.

09-04-2008

its an opinion my opinion, and as i said i stand with the xoo wating for more information than to just say no **** idea.

09-04-2008

I started this like 5 days ago and have worked late everyday since and i can definatley say i agree with everyone but zooboy.
I don't think melbourne needs a theme park. It's got Luna Park and that is rarely busy and only open on weekends and school holidays. Mel bourne doesn't get enough interstate or international tourists to support something like this and after the however many million victorians visit once and a few interstate tourists come down to see it all the hype will bwe gone and it will be left to die out next to an amazing animal display in front of a derelict theme park.

10-04-2008

fox studios didn't work in sydney, nor did wonderland. i don't think they even managed to keep luna park open.

now i know this is supposed to be an "animal kingdom" type park, with a much bigger cash injection that the above mentioned attempts. but really, if sydney can't keep a theme park open, you wonder how they expect melbourne to do so...

10-04-2008

i have to agree with you there as well patrick. They do have a history of bad ideas, and this very well could be, and i totally udnerstand how THIS would undermine the greatness and integrity of WORZ, but again i would still like to see the proposal, how much will be dedicated to animals, and how much to amusment alleys.

10-04-2008

It is not up to the government but zoos victoria to make the decision on what happens with the zoo. . . this was stated in one of the very first articles released stating that the decision would have to be made by zoos victoria. . . Again I don't understand how they can expect US to pay for a theme park we don't really seem to want, they aren't even planning on paying for it themselves.

11-04-2008

Give all the state funding earmarked for this rollercoaster bender to Zoos Victoria and Werribee OPZ has the cash to make it an even better conservation park. Surely at the end of the day that is what people at home and abroad come to visit the zoo for .. to see and be educated about wild animals, not some fun fair ride that is going nowhere fast. An extreme lack of vision and conservation ethic on the part of the state .. one would say if they persist with the plans put forward by this commercial operator. The reasoning that it would be more cost-effective is really an eye opener .. just look what happened to Sea World (it does not come up to scratch in conservation terms and it does not attract/appeals to visitors)

14-04-2008

Heres a link to a letter written by David Hancocks un the Melbourne Age. Bit disapointing as he doesn't have much to say.
Tests that will fail us all are not the answer in schools - Letters - Opinion