White rhino will be staying at Altina Wildlife Park as part of a plan to continue conservation efforts

Kei the white rhinoceros was brought to the park just after his 16^th birthday, to meet female rhinos Mango and Tatu. The pair had been in need of a mate for several weeks, but with a shortage of other rhinos in Australia, breeding can be difficult.

Rebecca Surian, the animal and operations manager at Altina, said that it was especially important that it went well from a genetics perspective.

"Tatu was imported from Germany, she's the only one of her bloodline in the country. It's really important we can breed from her and represent her genetics, so it's really lovely that Mogo and Altina could work together for this loan," she said.

Kei was transported in a temperature-controlled truck, with equipment on-site at Altina to carefully unload his custom crate.

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He was escorted by specialised vet Ian Smith and Head Zookeeper of Mogo Wildlife Park, Cody Wentzel, who worked with Kei personally to ensure the long trip was as stress-free as possible for the animal.

Upon arrival, Kei calmly walked into the purposely built rhino Yards and was greeted by some of his favourite foods - lucerne an oaten chaff. He remained there for a day before moving into a larger enclosure the next morning, where he encountered Mango and Tatu over a fence.

"All zoos in Australasia are part of the bigger picture - we all have good relationships and interchange genetics all the time. We have to have good relationships with all the zoos or we wouldn't be able to move forward with all the genetic conservation programs," Miss Surian explained.

The loan from Mogo could be anywhere from a year to eighteen months or even longer, due to the long gestation period of the animals.

"White rhinos are a very difficult species because they have such a long gestation period. If something goes wrong, it's a long time to wait for another one."

"It's really important that we do the best we can."

Kei is currently out and about at Altina Wildlife Park, and will be formally meeting Mango and Tatu in the coming weeks.

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