The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 460 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is 4 km 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.
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The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 460 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is 4 km 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.
Melbourne Zoo is Australia's oldest zoo and was modeled on London Zoo. The zoo was opened on the Royal Park site of 55 acres (22 hectares) in 1862 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.
Zoological collections now play an important role in regional conservation and research programs, educational activities and international breeding programs for endangered species.
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 comprises a large schools section and caters for many school visitors annually, it's 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 of bushland exhibiting Australian fauna.
Other exhibits at the zoo include enclosures for collared peccary, maned wolf, 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, platypus, De Brazza's monkey, Aldabra giant tortoise and bongo.
On 19 January 2008, The Age 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".
| “ | There's a climate of fear with people employed there, who've got to sign confidentiality agreements to keep them quiet even after they've resigned from the zoo. | ” |
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—Hugh Wirth |
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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.
