Elephants are coming to Monarto Safari Park

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Three elephants could soon become the star attractions at Monarto Safari Park under an ambitious plan by Zoos SA.

On Thursday, the non-profit organisation announced a $2 million fundraising drive to build a habitat for three Asian elephants currently living at zoos in Perth and Auckland.

Zoos SA CEO Elaine Bensted said the question her organisation was probably asked the most was: “Why don’t you have elephants?”

But the elephant in the room, as it were, won’t exist anymore if the fundraising campaign to relocate elephants to Monarto is successful.

Ms Bensted said the move was intended to benefit the animals’ wellbeing.

“As a conservation charity, we want to work with fellow accredited zoos to provide the best home for the elephants, where they can live with other animals as part of a herd structure,” she said.

“The prospect of having elephants at Monarto Safari Park is not only exciting, it’s the right thing to do for these elephants.”

The three elephants – 33-year-old females Permai and Putra Mas, from Perth, and 40-year-old female Burma, from Auckland – would be the only ones in South Australia.

The state’s last elephant, Samorn, died at Monarto in 1994 after years spent pulling children around on a cart at Adelaide Zoo.

“Of course, animal welfare and how we care for animals such as elephants has moved on; but the magic and emotion that these enormous yet gentle and intelligent creatures bring out in us all is still very much alive,” Ms Bensted said.

“That’s why we are hoping the community will want to see the three elephants at Monarto Safari Park and get behind our fundraising.”

The total cost of building an elephant habitat at Monarto will be $6.5 million, but $4.5 million of that cost will be met by Zoos SA and its partners.

Due to the scale of the project, Ms Bensted said that the proposed elephant habitat would probably be completed in the autumn of 2025.

“We’re building the facilities to have five elephants – our ideal would be to have one bull and three females,” she said.

“It’ll be a space of 14 hectares, so it’s almost two Adelaide Zoos in size … or nearly nine Adelaide Ovals; and we have to plant around 20,000 trees for future elephants, so there’s a lot of logistics that go into making the project possible.”

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The habitat will form part of the safari park’s Wild Africa expansion, which has already produced a new visitor centre and will soon include a luxury hotel and more new animals.

With the safari resort hotel only months away from completion, combined with the forthcoming Wild Africa exhibit and elephants, Ms Bensted was confident Monarto would attract even more tourists.

“Our last financial year, we had record visitor numbers,” she said.

“With the prospect of having big Asian elephants, I think Monarto is going to be an absolutely fantastic tourist destination for South Australians, for people around Australia but also international tourists.”

How to contribute to the fundraising campaign

The fundraising drive for the elephants will continue until October 23.

“There’s limited time with an imminent deadline, as ultimately these elephants need new homes whether it’s with us or elsewhere,” she said.

“We’re really hoping that every individual can get involved, but also some corporate partners can get involved as well,” she said.

"As we’re finishing (the fundraising drive), we’ve got a marathon run at Monarto, so people who are really keen can help do some fundraising by getting sponsored to run a marathon around Monarto and finishing in the park space at Monarto.”

• Donate: elephants.monartosafari.com.au.

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