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Melbourne Zoo

{{Short description|Zoo in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2014}}

{{Infobox zoo

|zoo_name= Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens

|logo=MelbourneZooLogo.jpg

|logo_width=200px

|image=Melbourne Zoo entrance 1a.jpg

|image_caption=Main Entrance

|date_opened={{start date and age|1862|10|06|df=y}}

|date_closed=

|location=Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

|area= {{Convert|55|acre|abbr=on}}

|coordinates={{Coord|display=it|-37.784762|144.952095|type:landmark_region:AU}}

|num_animals= 5,120

|num_species= 250

|members= Zoo and Aquarium Association, World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

|exhibits= lions, tigers, snow leopards, orang-utans, gorillas, gibbons, baboons, lemurs, pygmy hippopotamus, giraffes, marsupials, platypus, birds, reptiles

|website= {{URL|www.zoo.org.au/Melbourne}}

|embedded={{Infobox designation list

| embed = yes

| designation1 = VICHR

| designation1_offname = Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens

| designation1_type = State Registered Place

| designation1_criteria = a, e, f, g, h

| designation1_date = 23 May 1996

| delisted1_date =

| designation1_partof =

| designation1_number = H1074{{cite web|title=Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens |url=https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/4781|website=Victorian Heritage Database|publisher=Government of Victoria|access-date=25 November 2023}}

| designation1_free1name = Heritage Overlay numbers

| designation1_free1value = HO364 HO822 HO823 HO824 HO830 HO831 HO826 HO825 HO828 HO829 HO827

}}}}

Melbourne Zoo is a zoo in Melbourne, Australia. It is located within Royal Park in Parkville, approximately {{Convert|4|km|mi}} north of the centre of Melbourne. It is the primary zoo serving Melbourne. As of 2021, the zoo contains 3742 animals comprising 243 species,{{Cite web |title=Animal Inventory 2020-21 |url=https://www.zoo.org.au/media/5358/inventory-report-2020212.pdf |access-date=19 February 2023 |website=Zoos Victoria}} from Australia and around the world. The zoo is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram routes 58 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 and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The zoo is set among flower gardens and picnic areas. Many of the animals are now organised in bioclimatic zones: African rainforest ('Gorilla Rainforest') that include gorillas and lemurs; Asian rainforest that includes orangutans, tigers and otters; and the Australian bush with kangaroos, koalas, wombats, goannas, native birds and many others. Popular exhibits also include the 'Butterfly House', the 'Reptile House', the 'Great Flight Aviary', 'Wild Sea', 'Treetop Apes and Monkeys' and 'Lion Gorge'. During the summer months they also hold sleep over events at the zoo that allows people to purchase tickets to "camp out" for a night under the stars.

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.

Visitors can see historical cages including the heritage listed Elephant House, 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 experienced camp hosts.

History

In October 1857, the Zoological Society of Victoria was formed with the aim of introducing animals and plants from overseas.{{Cite web |title=Royal Zoological and Acclimatisation Society |url=https://researchdata.edu.au/royal-zoological-acclimatisation-society/491147 |access-date=2022-06-19 |website=Research Data Australia |language=en}} Its first collections of animals were housed in Richmond Paddock. In 1861 the organisation changed its name to the "Acclimatisation Society of Victoria".

On 6 October 1862, the organisation opened a new Melbourne Zoo in Royal Park on {{Convert|55|acre|adj=on}} of land donated by the City of Melbourne. Melbourne Zoo was modelled on London Zoo.

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.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article219425205 |title=The Zoological Gardens. |newspaper=Weekly Times |issue=594 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=22 January 1881 |access-date=3 March 2017 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}} 1870 also saw the Society change its name to the "Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria", and was granted the prefix "Royal" in 1910.

File:Tunnecliffe_patting_llama.jpg

File:Melbourne Zoo, Victoria, Australia -22Jan2011.jpg]]

One of the most famous exhibits from the early 1900s to the 1940s was Queenie the elephant.

In the mid-1930s, the Society had financial troubles. In response the Zoological Gardens Act 1936 was passed, handing the Zoo to a newly appointed Zoological Board of Victoria on behalf of the state government in 1937.

File:Melbourne Zoo aerial panorama.jpg

File:Aerial panorama of Parkville, and the Melbourne Zoo.jpg

In 1964, the acclaimed Lion Park exhibit opened, with an elevated walkway overlooking and separating two exhibits. It was demolished and replaced by a new lion exhibit in 2014.{{Cite web |title=Melbourne unveils lions' window on the world |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-unveils-lions-window-on-the-world/news-story/042d327da9d136582cb6ad9605b806b7 |access-date=18 February 2023 |website=Herald Sun}}

Australia's first gorilla birth occurred at Melbourne Zoo in 1984. Giant pandas were loaned to the zoo from China for an exhibition to celebrate Australia's bicentennial in 1988.

In 1989, a 35-year-old man died when he was partially eaten by a lion after he entered its pen.{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/03/26/Dead-man-found-in-lions-pen-at-zoo/8771606891600/ |title=Dead man found in lion's pen at zoo |newspaper=UPI |date=26 March 1989}}

The Trail of the Elephants exhibit was unveiled in 2003 and won numerous awards. On 15 January 2010 Melbourne Zoo welcomed its first elephant calf, Mali. This is the second elephant calf born in Australia, the first being in Sydney in July 2009. Mali is the first female calf born in Australia and the first calf born via artificial insemination. The zoo's elephant herd were relocated to its 'sibling' zoo Werribee Open Range Zoo in February 2025 to live in a new 21 hecatre state-of-the-art home. The Trail of the Elephants precinct was renamed 'Forest of Wonder'.

Melbourne Zoo commemorated 150 years of operation in 2012 and this was celebrated in an Australian Zoos collector's edition of stamps released by Australia Post in September 2012.

The Zoo completed construction and opened a new carnivores trail in early 2018.

Zoos Victoria

Zoos 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 (formerly the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary), which exhibits Australian fauna on {{Convert|175|ha|acre}} of bushland.{{cite web | title=About us | website=Zoos Victoria | url=https://www.zoo.org.au/about-us/ | access-date=31 March 2021}}

The three zoos have been collectively trading as Zoos Victoria since 1973, governed by the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board, which operates under the Zoological Parks and Gardens Act 1995.{{cite report|title=Annual Report 2019-2020|date=2019| author=Zoos Victoria|url=https://www.zoo.org.au/media/4472/zoos-victoria-annual-report-final-251120.pdf|access-date=31 March 2021}}

In July 2022, Kyabram Fauna Park joined Zoos Victoria.{{Cite web |last=Maier |first=Adena |date=13 July 2022 |title=Zoos Victoria just acquired its fourth (and biggest!) zoo |url=https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/news/zoos-victoria-just-acquired-its-fourth-and-biggest-zoo-071322 |access-date=October 24, 2023 |website=Time Out}}

Colossal Biosciences and Zoos Victoria began a conservation project in October 2023 to preserve the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon as well as sequence its genome.{{cite news|url=https://dallasinnovates.com/here-be-dragons-colossal-partners-with-zoos-victoria-to-save-reptile-once-thought-extinct/|author=David Seeley|date=October 25, 2023|title=Here Be Dragons: Colossal Partners with Zoos Victoria To Save Reptile Once Thought Extinct|work=Dallas Innovates}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/25/imagine-more-dragons-us-biotech-firm-aims-to-breed-tiny-australian-lizard-that-is-near-extinction|author=Adam Morton|date=October 24, 2023|title=Imagine more dragons: US biotech firm aims to breed tiny Australian lizard that is near extinction|work=Guardian}}

The Carousel

{{main|Melbourne Zoo Carousel}}

The carousel was manufactured in England and then brought to Australia in 1886 by a family that ran a touring carnival, visiting country towns in Victoria. After touring with the carnival for over 60 years, in 1952 the carousel became part of a fun fair at the Melbourne Zoo, but was still owned by the same families. When the fun fair at the zoo was permanently closed in 1997, the carousel was purchased by the zoo. By that time, the carousel was in a deteriorated condition. It was restored off-site in 2004-2005 with funding from Heritage Victoria and re-opened in August 2005. The carousel is listed by Heritage Victoria as a heritage place.{{Cite web |title=Carousel - Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, Elliott Avenue, Parkville, Melbourne City |url=https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/4738 |access-date=26 August 2024 |website=Victorian Heritage Database}}

Exhibits

;Gorilla Rainforest

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

{{div col end}}

;Growing Wild

;Forest of Wonder

;Wild Sea

;Australian Bush

;Great Flight Aviary

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

{{div col end}}

;Lion Gorge

;DigestED

;World of Frogs

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

{{div col end}}

;Reptile House

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

{{div col end}}

;Main Trail

{{cite web |title=Microsoft Word - Inventory Report 202021.docx |url=https://www.zoo.org.au/media/5358/inventory-report-2020212.pdf|website=zoo.org.au }}

Gallery

File:DSC 4942 (16415619924).jpg|Little penguin exhibit

File:Melbourne Zoo aviary 1a.jpg|Inside the aviary

File:Gorilla Eating (4334174066).jpg|Western lowland gorilla

File:Pygmy hippopotamus Melbourne Zoo (11882419955).jpg|Pygmy hippo

File:Giraffe08 - melbourne zoo edit.jpg|Giraffe

File:Melbourne Zoo meerkats.jpg|Meerkats

File:Carousel at Royal Melbourne Zoological Park.jpg|Historic carousel

File:Aldabra Giant Tortoise at Melbourne Zoo.jpg|Aldabra giant tortoise

File:Lion - melbourne zoo.jpg|African lion

File:Snow Leopard at Melbourne Zoo.jpg|Snow leopard

File:Red panda 30966214626.jpg|Red pandas

File:Red Panda sleeping in tree.png|Red pandas

File:Melbourne- Zoo-6-March71 (4412797599).jpg|View of underwater environment.

File:Gordo, Australian fur seal at Melbourne Zoo.jpg|Australian fur seal with a zookeeper

File:DSC 5059 (17036926121).jpg|Up close viewing at the baboon exhibit.

File:Pelican-Melbourne-Zoo-20070224-049.jpg|Australian pelican

File:A koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in Melbourne Zoo - Flickr - odako1.jpg|Koala

File:Emu - melbourne zoo.jpg|Emu

File:Hanson Melbourne Zoo.jpg|Different performances are held at the zoo.

File:Fiji crested iguana.jpg|Fiji crested iguana

File:Snow leopard side of river.jpg|Snow leopard

File:Black-necked stork in The Melbourne Zoo.jpg|Black-necked stork

File:Spider monkey on tree.jpg|Black-handed spider monkey

File:Tasmanian devil on tree trunk.jpg|Tasmanian devil

See also

{{stack|{{portal|Victoria|animals}}}}

Notes

{{Reflist |refs=

{{Cite web

|url = http://www.zoo.org.au/Melbourne/About_Melbourne_Zoo

|title = About Melbourne Zoo

|work = zoo.org.au

|publisher = Zoos Victoria

|access-date = 27 August 2010

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100702084809/http://www.zoo.org.au/Melbourne/About_Melbourne_Zoo

|archive-date = 2 July 2010

|df = dmy-all

}}

{{Cite web

|url = http://www.zoo.org.au/Melbourne/History_of_the_Zoo

|title = History of the Zoo

|work = zoo.org.au

|publisher = Zoos Victoria

|access-date = 27 August 2010

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100819110538/http://www.zoo.org.au/Melbourne/History_of_the_Zoo

|archive-date = 19 August 2010

|df = dmy-all

}}

{{ZooOrg|zaa|zoos|access-date=29 January 2011}}

{{ZooOrg|waza|zoos|access-date=29 January 2011}}

}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{Official website|www.zoo.org.au}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20160305051452/http://www.globalspecies.org/zooinsts/display/13859 List of species at Melbourne Zoo], globalspecies.org

{{Zoos of Victoria}}

{{Zoos of Melbourne}}

{{Melbourne landmarks}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1862 establishments in Australia

Category:Educational organizations established in 1862

Category:Zoos established in the 19th century

Category:Organisations based in Melbourne

Category:Tourist attractions in Melbourne

Category:Zoos in Victoria (state)

Category:Culture of Melbourne

Category:Parks in Melbourne

Category:Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)