Australia Melbourne Zoo

Though not much of a zoo visiting person, I might say I enjoyed a lot the trip there and I recommend this as a place worth visiting in Melbourne. First, the setting is wonderful and the scenery is great. It's located at the fringe of the Royal Park - a sequence of endless fields with very tall Eucalypts at the edges.
You have plenty to see there: from lions, elephants, seals and hippopotamus to an excellent collection of better-known Australian animals and a huge aviary, like an enormous birdcage. I particularly enjoyed watching the meerkats, the red pandas, the fairy penguins and not less the visit to the Butterfly House, where you can see more than 800 butterflies at any one time. They say about 30,000 butterflies are bred in there every year.
The Royal Zoo is very easy to reach (the easiest by tram, in 15 mins).