Progress Update on the Australian Rhino Project

Montaro Safari Park.

By The Australian Rhino Project | June 17, 2022

Whilst the world has grappled with the pandemic over the past two years, the team at the Australian Rhino Project and our partner organisations have continued to forge ahead on our mission to strengthen the breeding population of rhinos in Australia and New Zealand.

Over the past two years, we have dealt with restricted access to construction sites, reduced labour, increasing prices of building materials and of course managing the project through video conference meetings.

However, we are pleased to say that despite these headwinds, our project is on the precipice of some exciting milestones.

Orana Wildlife Park Construction

The $1.4M White Rhino Conservation Centre at Orana Wildlife Park, Christchurch, is nearing completion. This facility has been constructed to house up to 15 rhinos at a time and serve to support the rhino crash at Orana and act as a quarantine facility for the project.

Congratulations must go to Lynn Anderson and her team at Orana who have battled along with the construction of this facility.  We are expecting practical completion within the next month and then Orana will work with the NZ Authorities to certify the facility in preparation for the arrival of rhinos. We are expecting the first “crash” of rhinos to arrive at Orana in New Zealand later in 2022.

The past 12 months have seen the construction of the Monarto Visitors Centre as well as substantial work on rhino fencing, rhino and giraffe night quarters construction, water reticulation, weed control and additional construction at the Rhino Quarantine and Management Centre. The team at Monarto and their army of capable volunteers have worked tirelessly to create this incredible location.

The aerial photography of the Wild Africa precinct shows the substantial amount of work that has gone into this location to ensure that it is perfectly prepared as an open plain area for rhinos. And the sunsets aren’t too bad either!

Update from South Africa

Our identified rhinos in South Africa continue to be cared for by our highly experienced and committed wildlife partners. We are forever grateful for their patience in helping us ensure this project is a success.

The next stage in our project will see the permitting and paperwork process begin in South Africa. This critical stage in the project will see all our wildlife partner organisations working together on the permitting stage for the relocation of the rhinos.