The capital of Victoria is Melbourne and approximately 3.2 million people from many different cultures live there. Melbourne is situated on the Yarra River and it is an elegant, cosmopolitan city with diverse charms. Melbourne is host to many cultural festivals each year and its generally regarded as Australia's art capital.
Melbourne is set around beautiful parks and gardens and was voted the Most Liveable City in the world and it constanly makes sure it keeps reputation by offering fantastic leisure time activities, shopping and general places to see and visit.
Melbourne was founded by John Batman in 1834 after he had seen the banks of the Yarra River with its 270,000 hectares.
Melbourne is home also to three Zoo's, these being the Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Victoria's Open Range Zoo.
The Melbourne Zoo is situated in a botanical garden setting of 55 acres. It has more than 350 animal species from Australia and around the world. Melbourne Zoo is Australia's oldest zoo and was opened on the current site in 1862.
Healesville Sanctuary which opened in 1934 has more than 200 species of native birds, mammals and reptiles sett in a natural bushland setting. This is a zoo that you can walk and meet kangaroos and emu's on the paths. In 1940 this zoo made the headlines around the world with the successful breeding Platypus in captivity.
Victoria's Open Range Zoo is where animals from the grasslands of Australia, Africa and Asia live in conditions as close as possible to those they encounter in their natural habitats. It is developed on 200 hectares of land around the beautiful Werribee River. The park is divided into set areas which allow the animals to live in harmony. These areas are called African Savannah, in which giraffe, zebra and others reside. Another area is the African waterhole in which there are hippos in the river.
