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.
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