COMMUNITY CONSERVATION
Ooh bubbles!
Project Willy Wonka
From exercise pools to custom-made gyms, a range of innovations are keeping Zoos Victoria’s animals healthy and happy. WORDS Jo
Stewart
H
ave you ever wondered why the orang-utans at Melbourne Zoo have a climbing frame, or why the dingoes at Healesville Sanctuary forage through paper and treat-filled boxes? Perhaps you’ve noticed snakes swimming in pools or African Wild Dogs retrieving food from a zip-line at Werribee Open Range Zoo and asked yourself: why? Whether specially designed activities or habitat features, these are some of the projects that Zoos Victoria uses to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of the animals in our care. As Zoos Victoria Animal Behaviour Specialist Sue Jaensch explains, these projects are all about providing beneficial experiences for animals. “More often than not, it means creating problem-solving opportunities or an increase in physical activity that matches wild behaviours,” she says. Since 2013, Zoos Victoria has allocated $50,000 of its annual budget to Project
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Willy Wonka: a program that supports innovative projects to provide positive experiences for the animals in their care. These funds are bolstered by a generous private donor, who has supported the project for the past three years. As part of the annual initiative, Zoos Victoria staff put forward their suggestions for new design features or equipment, and a short-listed selection are allocated funding. Unsurprisingly, Keepers are the main source of inspiration, Sue explains. “When you’re doing an activity day in day out and observing your animals and how they react to it, and then adding in what you know about that individual animal and their species in the wild, that inevitably leads the majority of Keepers to dream up those ‘I’d really love it if we could…’ ideas.” Melbourne Zoo’s seals are recent recipients of a Willy Wonka creation: a bubble curtain that was installed in the main pool of the Wild Sea exhibit last year. Blowing bubbles from a tube at the bottom of the pool, the device creates a multi-sensory experience. “There’s a tactile element for the seals as they
