Werribee Open Range Zoo’s new elephant trail has opened just in time for the school holidays.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos officially opened the 21-hectare elephant trail on Sunday, March 23.
The trail is a habitat for the nine Asian elephants that made the trek to Werribee from Melbourne Zoo.
The elephants have spent the past few weeks settling into their new home after making the move to the west, but now they’re ready to welcome visitors.
“The beautiful new elephant trail makes the Werribee Open Range Zoo even better, and it’s open just in time for kids to visit free these school holidays,” Ms Allan said.
The new habitat is the size of the entire Melbourne Zoo, giving the herd plenty of room to roam, and includes two mega pools to keep the elephants cool.
The pools are connected to the Werribee Recycled Water Plant by a 2.5-kilometre pipeline that delivers 150 million litres of recycled water to the habitat.
A walking trail connects the elephant’s open space, barns, mega pools and a café , so even in their spacious new environment, families can still see the animals up close.
“Kids, parents and animal lovers alike will go wild for this new experience and will travel from all over to see our incredible Asian Elephant family in their world-class habitat,” Mr Dimopoulos said.
The state government contributed $88 million investment towards the project and new habitat.
Zoos Victoria chief executive Dr Jenny Gray said the migration to Werribee had been years in the making.
Children under 16 have free entry to all four of Victoria’s zoos during the school holidays under the state government’s Kids Go Free program.
Details: zoo.org.au/werribee
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