But to know some people is to love them, and to know Mr Altin – the Riverina’s own Dr Doolittle – was to understand a man with deep passions and a singular focus.

A family trip to Africa more than two decades ago left an indelible impression on Mr Altin, who felt so moved by the plight of exotic animals he vowed to establish a sanctuary back home to help save them.

It seemed, by any measure, an impossible dream.

But with the support of his wife Gloria and their children, it slowly moved into the realm of possible.

In April 2004, wearing his trademark Akubra and slightly-too-tight King Gee shorts, Mr Altin appeared in Griffith’s The Area News in a story titled “Farmland to fauna parkland”.

A scrubby, 1500-acre parcel of land on the Murrumbidgee River at Darlington Point would be the site for a new zoo, he revealed.

Most readers thought it was an April Fools’ joke.

But Mr Altin was determined and the former champion powerlifter was prepared to do the heavy lifting himself, working seven days a week between his day job and his side project.

It started with native animals and then moved to the kind of “unfashionable” exotic animals you’d never find in a children’s book – barbary sheep, Mongolian wild horses, Himalayan tahr.

Slowly but surely, the big guns started rolling in.

The park now boasts, among others, giraffes, lions and Mr Altin’s favourite, rhinos.

He ploughed hundreds of thousands of his own dollars into the park, dreaming of the day it would break even.

Thankfully, he saw that day before his tragic passing this week, aged just 55.

Mr Altin leaves an extraordinary legacy – a wonderful family, a world-class wildlife park that has flow-on benefits for the local economy, a successful concrete business.

But he also leaves a legacy of inspiration and hope for us all.

His life is a reminder that through perseverance and passion, an individual can change the world.

Rest in peace, Gino.

Here’s hoping you have the best seat in the house to watch the rhinos on heaven’s savanna.