As Perth Zoo prepares to farewell one of its two elephants this month, it has plans to fill the enormous void by bring in several new species in the coming years. That includes the addition of two new rhinos, with hopes they could be settled within six months.
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00:00The public's affection for Perth's elephants makes them one of the zoo's biggest drawcards.
00:08But the death of Tricia the elephant in 2022 set in motion a plan to relocate the two remaining
00:13animals to a zoo in South Australia.
00:16The goal, to ensure the herd animals would be able to live with other elephants.
00:20The zoo staff, volunteers and the public love them.
00:23But of course animal welfare underpins all of our decisions at Perth Zoo.
00:28And for reasons we've talked about before, relocating our two elephants to Monarto to
00:32be in a bigger herd is really critical and important.
00:35That plan is now underway.
00:37This month the zoo will move female elephant Pumai, having trained her with a moving crate.
00:45But their departure will leave more than just an emotional gap for keepers in the zoo.
00:49Almost a third of the zoo's revenue comes from patrons.
00:52Animal welfare versus the commercial operations, they are really kind of hand in glove, they
00:57work well, but animal welfare takes clear precedence.
01:01So our decisions are guided by that, that is what our core reason for being is around
01:05animals and animal welfare and conservation.
01:08Plans are in place to fill the enormous void the elephants will leave.
01:12Two new rhinos will arrive this year, forming part of an expanded African savannah exhibit.
01:17That includes the giraffe's enclosure being enlarged and the eventual addition of antelopes
01:21and ostriches.
01:22The project is in its infancy and will cost an estimated $30 million.
01:27The expansion of the African savannah will take us a number of years, two to three years
01:31to develop that.
01:32It's not cheap, it's very complex running a zoo.
01:35Big plans for some of the zoo's biggest residents.