Our dedicated keeping team spend their days providing the best possible care for our wildlife and are also responsible for the encounters. The animals listed below represent less than half of the zoo’s animal population but includes many of the favourites.
Caring for our Wildlife
Our dedicated keeping team spend their days providing the best possible care for our wildlife and are also responsible for the encounters. Our animal care philosophy is based on agreed standards and a focus on constantly improving these. These standards are usually based on the husbandry standards from the Zoo and Aquarium Association and include the provision of enrichment, training programmes and conditioning the animals to make managing them easier, to build the relationships between staff and wildlife and to reduce unnecessary stress. Our enclosures are generally large and naturally landscaped. We seek and receive advice from the likes of Werribee Open Range Zoo and many of the regional zoos which includes advice on both veterinary and animal keeping standards. We do not have our own veterinary staff but rely on the keeping team to monitor and report health concerns on a daily basis, which we then discuss with our consultant vets as needed. Some preventative veterinary care such as parasite control is implemented by our keepers on the advise of our consulting vets.
As part of the essential dietary requirements and enrichment we have a staff member who cuts browse three days per week. This browse supplies key nutrition for browsers such as giraffe, enrichment and some food for the likes of primates and parrots. As well as this we plan and commit to key exhibit upgrades to improve animal welfare each year. The latest has been a spend of over $100,000 on the giraffe paddock substrate, and larger new enclosures for our salt-water crocodile and pig-nosed turtle. Next we are turning our focus to larger enclosures and dens for our breeding group of capuchin monkeys followed by upgrade for our wombats.
Cheetah Training
As part of building a trusting relationship with our cheetah boys, which makes managing the boys easier and stress free, our team have worked wonders with the training program. The video provides an insight into how this achieved and if you want to see it in action, consider booking the cheetah encounter.
Rhino Training
Ever wondered how our keepers manage a three to rhino to move where and when asked and to participate in voluntary health checks? The answer is a training program that is a win-win for the rhino and the keepers. This focusses on building trust and ensuring the rhino finds the training rewarding while presenting the right behaviours to make their management easy.
The video provides an insight into how this achieved and if you want to see it in action, consider booking the rhino encounter.
Capuchin Training
Primates are highly intelligent and if not managed correctly they can become unruly to both the keepers and each other. By using a consistent training program our keepers build a trusting relationship that enables them to manage the troops in a stress-free environment. The training also enables ease of health care and even the ability to move the animals with ease. The video provides an insight into how the keepers achieve some of the trained behaviours and if you lucky you may even catch a keeper in action while training is underway.
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Happy Mother’s Day from the Zoo! They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and in Asha’s case, it’s more like mini me’s running around the exhibit! Motherhood is all about love, protection, and a whole lot of lookalikes.
Here’s to all the wild, wonderful mums out there we hope you have a great day and get to relax.
When you’re visiting see if you can spot the difference between Asha and her daughters or even spot one of our newer mums, hint: you might see a little face poking out of a pouch.
#mothersday #grampians #present #hallsgapzoo #visitmelbourne
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Today is about our beautiful native Dingoes
🐾 The widest part of their body is their skull which they use to test if they can fit through holes without getting stuck.
🐾 They are not a dog they are genetically and behaviourally different to domestic dogs.
🐾 They can jump up to 2m high from a standing position.
Come and meet one of our 3 beautiful boys Daku, Bobby and Maliki during an encounter
#hallsgapzoo #encounter #dingo
💕Looking for the perfect Mother’s Day present?
How about the gift of an animal experience for the special woman in your life.
Spend some quality time together, cementing your position as the favourite child while having an unforgettable time feeding a giraffe, patting a 2000kg rhino or having a red panda walk across your lap. 🤭
Check out our website for our full range of encounters. #mothersday #mothersdaygifts #encounters
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Today we are looking at Elk
🦌They are one of the largest species of Deer.
🦌Babies are born with spots but loose them by the end of summer (as you can see in the photo) they are also born without a scent to help protect them from predators.
🦌Males grow impressive antlers each year and shed them in the winter
#elk #hallsgapzoo #nationalpark
#visitmelbourne #visitmelbourneaustralia
Thankyou so much to a Family from Horsham who so generously donated 5 family yearly memberships to some deserving local families saying that “The Halls Gap Zoo has brought so much joy to our lives over the years and after everything they and the local community have been through, especially with the challenges of the fires, we wanted to give something back to the zoo and hopefully bring some joy to local families through a zoo membership.”
So wonderful to have such kindhearted people in our community so Thankyou again.
#kindness #hallsgapzoo #familymembership
Happy World Vet Day!!
Today we celebrate the dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to protect the health and welfare of animals everywhere.
We would like to thank our vets from Stawell veterinary clinic who help us when our animals need them and after the recent fires were amazingly kind enough and wiped our bill which was such a big help to us.
We would also like to thank the vets from Werribee Zoo who take on our animals when they need specialist veterinary care especially when they make the trek out to see our animals on site.
We appreciate each and everyone of you for your commitment to the animals you work so hard to care for.
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Today is about Black Capped Capuchins
🐒 They do what is called urine washing so they will pee into their hands and feet and rub it all over them to leave their scent as they travel through the forests.
🐒 They are very intelligent and will use tools to help them break open food sources.
🐒 They have semi prehensile tails and only juveniles can hang their whole body weight from their tail while adults will still need to support themselves with their arms or legs
Pictured is Marko and Polo the cheekiest father and son duo you ever did meet.
Today we pause to remember the courage and sacrifice of all who served not only the men and women but also the animals who helped our soldiers.
We remember and thank all of them, your sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Just a reminder that we are open everyday this long weekend 10am-5pm everyday.
#hallsgapzoo #visitmelbourne #grampians #longweekend
Thank You for Hopping By!
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for our Easter Bunny Hunt at the zoo! It was great to see so many smiling faces and families enjoying the day together. Your enthusiasm made the event extra special!
The total count of bunnies hidden around the zoo was 26, did you find them all?
We hope you had as much fun finding bunnies as we did hiding them.
#hallsgapzoo #easter #visitmelbourne #grampians
Happy Easter from all of us at the Zoo.
We’re sending warm wishes your way for a day filled with love, laughter, and maybe a few bunny hops!
Enjoy the sweet treats and some wild moments with the ones you love.
Our animals clearly had fun with some Easter themed enrichment.
#grampians #grampiansvictoria #visitmelbourne #longweekend #Easterhunt #easterbunny #visitmelbourneaustralia #zoo
Don’t forget our Easter Bunny Hunt is on all weekend!
Keep an eye out, count all the bunnies you see and put your guess in our raffle box that will be drawn at 3.30pm everyday.
Make sure to follow our social media pages to find out the correct answer on Tuesday.
Here is a little hint to get you started:
“The bunny’s journey has just begun,
Snuggling close with more than one.
Fluffy friends with button eyes,
That’s where the first surprise lies!”
#Easterhunt #easterbunny #longweekend #grampians #visitmelbourne #visitmelbourneaustralia
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These little legends love hanging out motionless on tree trunks like it’s a full-time job. They’re not fire-breathing, but they do give serious “forest guardian” vibes and they will judge you silently from a branch…
BOYD’S FOREST DRAGON
They are quite different compared to other reptiles in the fact they do not rely on basking in the sun to regulate their body temperature.
Babies are independent straight after they hatch from the eggs.
They are masters of camouflage and use this to protect themselves from predators.
They are native to rainforests in northeastern Australia with the Daintree rainforest being a good place to try and spot them.
#grampians #schoolholidays #easter #nationalpark #hallsgapzoo #zoo #boydsforestdragon
This Easter on all 4 days we’re turning the zoo into a bunny-filled adventure! Count all the hidden bunnies scattered throughout the zoo for your chance to WIN an exclusive Lizard or Dingo encounter *conditions apply.
#hallsgapzoo #easter #schoolholidays
