Werribee Open Range Zoo is a zoo in Werribee, about 32 km south-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, focusing on displaying Australian and African animals. It is part of the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board which also includes Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary, and is located on the Werribee River in Werribee Park, 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 according to the expected demand - usually at least every twenty minutes on weekends and public holidays. The safari tour normally lasts an hour and takes up to 72 people, not including the guide.
The four passengers in the jeep must feel a whisker away from death as a lion jumps up on to their bonnet for lunch. But that's all part of the attraction. The jeep is a new zoo exhibit which allows visitors to get incredibly close to the lions. The back part of the vehicle, up to where the windscreen should be, is actually on the outside of the reinforced glass cage. The bonnet is on the inside, and covered with meat to entice the big cats closer.
