Werribee Open Range Zoo

The Werribee Open Range Zoo is a zoo in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, focusing on displaying Australian and African animals. It is part of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board which includes Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, and it is adjacent to the Werribee Mansion. It was originally agistment land to the Melbourne Zoo.

Once visitors have entered the Open Range Zoo, they can book for and take a bus which runs every ten minutes and takes them through the zoo for a safari tour. (A shuttle bus can also be taken for a 10% discount). The safari tour normally lasts an hour and takes up to 50 people, including the guide. Photos are encouraged, but drinking, eating and smoking are not allowed on the bus. The safari tour begins with the loading of the bus near the Meercat Bistro and Function Centre. The safari tour goes through in an anti-clockwise direction.

After seeing Australian animals, like the emu, the brolga and the pelican, the first savannah animal on the tour is the hippo. Then the tour goes on the eastern track, through which the animals of the grassland are seen, like the vervet monkey, the serval, the zebra, the waterbuck and the ostrich, as well as the camel, the cheetah and the oryx. The animals are kept in similar conditions to the ones they would have to live in the wild, and often young are not released until they have bonded with the mother.

There is also a simulated African village, which the visitor usually sees after they have seen the lionesses, with many educational and entertaining features such as an interpretive display of a lion hunt (with a television and a sign), and an interactive walk with lion sounds coming through the grass. As well as the safari tour, there are two independent trails that visitors may follow: the Pula Reserve Walking Trail (100 metres/approximately 40 minutes) which focuses on African animals, including lions and meercats, and the Volcanic Plains Walk (500 metres/approximately 30 minutes), which focuses on Australian animals, like the wallaby and kangaroo.

Educational institutions and interested visitors may use the Learning Centre and the Savanna Discovery Centre, which further serve to reinforce the learning experience by teaching more about the history and geography of animals in their environments. Both the Savanna Discovery Centre and the Learning Centre are close to the entry of the park, as are the toilets and first aid.

Werribee Open Range Zoo has also an animal/adoption sponsorship program which is used for gifts and other altruistic purposes.

External links

• Official website