The Latest Breaking News from Zoos Victoria

How to conserve your dragon – and avoid losing Australia’s most imperilled reptile for a second time

Melbourne zoo’s new breeding centre hopes to safeguard the future of the critically endangered Victorian grassland earless dragon

The Guardian - AU · May 3

When feral cats are away, potoroos and bandicoots are more likely to play

All animals need to eat to survive, grow and reproduce. To do so, they also need to avoid being eaten. This is a big challenge for many of Australia’s native mammals, because when they search for food, they must also escape the attention of introduced predators, namely, feral cats and…

The Conversation · Feb 23

From cigarette-smoking orangutans to lavender for lions: Melbourne zoo’s dark history gives way to progressive animal care

Tackling the tension between promoting conservation, keeping animals in captivity and its heavy history, the zoo has been reshaped around environmental awareness

The Guardian - AU · Feb 14

Doggy delight: wildlife detectors sniff out rare dragon

A team of wildlife detection dogs have been trained to sniff out a rare species of lizard, which was long thought to be extinct until its rediscovery.

AAP · Apr 8, 2025

Earless dragons were presumed extinct in Australia – now Daisy and Kip have sniffed out 13 of them

Zoos Victoria wildlife detection dogs uncovered the ‘bloody gorgeous’ reptiles in return for treats and cuddles

The Guardian - AU · Apr 7, 2025

‘You just hope for the best’: rarely seen froglets – the length of a grain of rice – released into small patch of Victorian wilds

Exclusive: More than 3,000 critically endangered Baw Baw frogs set free in a high-altitude forest to bolster dwindling population

The Guardian - AU · Mar 6, 2025

Melbourne zoo investigating shock death of Kimya the western lowland gorilla

Vets are undertaking a necropsy to determine why beloved 20-year-old animal suddenly died on Saturday morning

The Guardian - AU · Feb 15, 2025

‘Like finding gold’: plains-wanderers spotted in Melbourne’s west for first time in 30 years with help of AI

Critically endangered bird detected after analysis of tens of thousands of hours of song meter recordings

The Guardian - AU · Feb 12, 2025

In 2025, let’s make it game on – not game over – for our precious natural world

It’s just past midnight in the cool, ancient forests of Tasmania. We’ve spent a long day and night surveying endangered Tasmanian devils. All around, small animals scurry through bushes. A devil calls in the darkness. Microbats swoop and swirl as a spotted-tailed quoll slips through the shadows. Working here is…

The Conversation · Dec 30, 2024

Banking on seeds to help save endangered possum

More than 60 years after the rediscovery of a rare possum in Victoria, scientists are looking ahead to save the tiny population that remains in the wild.

AAP · Oct 19, 2024