Monarto Safari Park Monarto Safari Park News 2025
- Thread starter Luke899
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The Safari Resort will overlook the Wild Africa precinct, which houses Cheetah, Southern white rhinoceros etc.
The Asian elephants are some distance away, nearer the Przewalski’s wild horse.
Ok thanks @Zoofan15 I was wondering how they would view the Elephants from the Resort
It doesn’t appear you can; but the resort mentions you can see them during the day via the Zoo-loop bus (as can every other visitor).
The resort does offer a couple of resort specific experiences, both of which appear to centre around the species in Wild Africa:
Dawn:
Bask in the early morning sun as you embark on a small-group guided safari tour. Enjoy exclusive access to Monarto Safari Park after hours and immerse yourself in the vast parklands with free roaming herds of African animals. As you explore the parklands from the comfort of the accessible Safari Truck, you’ll have the opportunity to observe and photograph animals including Southern White Rhinos, Giraffes, Cheetahs, Eland, Ostriches, and Zebras. You’ll be served some light refreshments along the way so you won’t miss a minute of the action!
Dusk:
Soak in the last rays of the sun on the Sunset Wildlife Safari small-group guided tour. Departing two hours before sunset daily, you’ll enjoy exclusive access to Monarto Safari Park after hours, with ample opportunity to immerse yourself in the vast parklands and watch the free-roaming herds of African animals across 550 hectares. As you explore the parklands from the comfort of the accessible Safari Truck, you’ll have the opportunity to observe and photograph animals including Southern White Rhinos, Giraffes, Cheetahs, Eland, Ostriches, and Zebras. Drinks and canapes will be served during the tour, capping off the unforgettable experience.
Ok thanks @Zoofan15 I was wondering how they would view the Elephants from the Resort
If the new resort is anything like Melbourne's Roar N'Snore experience, the guests would get the opportunity to visit the zoo during the day (free of charge) and this is when they'll be able to view the elephants.
The elephants won't be able to viewed from the resort itself as it's at the top of the park (the elephants are near the bottom). You may also get to see them outside of hours with guided tours associated with your experience, however it really depends as the elephants may not always be outside at night. I know Melbourne's weren't, so therefore weren't visible during the night tour apart of Roar N'Snore.
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Surprisingly enough, the resort doesn’t include free admission to the park. The website advises the following discounted rates:
Price - Adult $40 | Child $21 (4 - 14 years old)
This compares to standard admission of $49 per adult; $27 per child.
It doesn’t appear the elephants feature on the guided tours at this stage (unless this is due to them settling in); but they can of course be seen during the day.
Elephant update:
From socials:
We asked keepers Odin and Jody to provide us an update on Monarto Safari Park’s two resident elephants - and they have delivered
Permai continues to slowly settle into her new home at Monarto Safari Park, gradually showing more confidence and signs of comfort in her surroundings.
Keepers are taking opportunities to put Permai and Burma in the indoor and outdoor yards together when they are seeing positive indicators from both elephants. We’ve seen some behaviours coming out in these interactions between the two that keepers need to monitor closely, and while this is a normal complexity of creating social dynamics between mature elephants, it’s a process that requires time and patience - from both elephants, and humans.
Permai and Burma do have the ability to regularly interact between a bollard barrier without keepers present, and through the overnight cameras we’re seeing some organic connections take place.
These brief moments strengthen their familiarity and that’s what we hope to gradually see more of, as the girls form a companionship where they find security and comfort in one another’s company.
As always - we’re working on elephant time, and elephant choice.
From socials:
We asked keepers Odin and Jody to provide us an update on Monarto Safari Park’s two resident elephants - and they have delivered
Permai continues to slowly settle into her new home at Monarto Safari Park, gradually showing more confidence and signs of comfort in her surroundings.
Keepers are taking opportunities to put Permai and Burma in the indoor and outdoor yards together when they are seeing positive indicators from both elephants. We’ve seen some behaviours coming out in these interactions between the two that keepers need to monitor closely, and while this is a normal complexity of creating social dynamics between mature elephants, it’s a process that requires time and patience - from both elephants, and humans.
Permai and Burma do have the ability to regularly interact between a bollard barrier without keepers present, and through the overnight cameras we’re seeing some organic connections take place.
These brief moments strengthen their familiarity and that’s what we hope to gradually see more of, as the girls form a companionship where they find security and comfort in one another’s company.
As always - we’re working on elephant time, and elephant choice.
This on the whole is really good to hear. Hope they do become good bonded friends and grow to deeply care from one another (and the arrival of Pak Boon and Tang Mo doesnt end up making either Permai or Burma an ostracised member of the quartet).
It is indeed a positive update on the whole. The underlying message seems to be that they’re making progress, albeit slow progress.
To be honest, this is what I anticipated from the beginning in that they’re highly complex animals that take time to form these bonds. It’s important to be realistic that the bonds will never replicate the strength of the bonds seen in matriarchal herds; but hopefully they can build on tolerance to a genuine mutual enjoyment of the companionship the other provides.
Since it could take years for Burma and Permai to bond, I see no reason to delay transferring in Pak Boon and Tang Mo, who can be kept separate for as long as required. It may even assist introductions in that it will take the focus off any one elephant to engage in interactions.
This comment in particular is interesting:
We’ve seen some behaviours coming out in these interactions between the two that keepers need to monitor closely.
It could be anything from dominance posturing as they test each others strength: or simply signs of apprehension from one or both of the cows. The keepers are experts in their field, so the elephants are surely in the best hands to undertake an introduction at their pace. I look forward to hearing further updates as things progress.
Thanks, I missed that part. It’s interesting to hear how they want Burma to establish herself as matriarch. While that would be ideal within the Burma/Permai dyad, I can’t see Pak Boon accepting that dynamic when she arrives. She has a strong personality and the bond between her and Tang Mo goes back two decades. Combined with her age and 10 years experience as matriarch at Taronga, she has a lot of advantages.
That was a touching detail how Permai may have thought it was Putra Mas when she first realised there was another elephant in the vicinity. Cows are often enthusiastic in greeting a new bull to arrive at their facility. I can only imagine the excitement from all four cows to meet Putra Mas later this year - from Permai who will recognise him from her Perth days; to Pak Boon and Tang Mo, who haven’t seen a mature bull in a decade; to Burma who hasn’t seen a bull since she was at least eight years old in 1990.
I assume the comment may just refer to the mean time; it does make sense as Burma's had the opportunity to take on the leader position during her time at Auckland whilst Permai always had Tricia who was the matriarch over at Perth. Therefore, it would be much easier for the herd's dynamics if Burma took on that role and Permai assumed a role similar to the one she used to have at Perth. Obviously this isn't guaranteed, and hopefully this doesn't have any adverse implications come the Taronga cows arrival.
I similarly of the opinion Pak Boon will take on the matriarch role. She's effectively had that role in the Taronga herd which is/was obviously more naturally structured than the herds both Permai and Burma came from. But I do hold my concerns now if Permai and Burma are still struggling to figure out who's in charge. The Taronga cows arrival could be a blessing in disguise if Pak Boon arrives and sorts both cows out, or it could become a pain if there's a third elephant added into the mix who's vying for dominance.
Absolutely. Both cows weigh just under four tonnes and are extremely powerful animals, capable of inflicting serious or fatal injuries upon the other. Either one could knock the other over and there’s tremendous power behind their trunks.
The keepers had initially expressed hopes they’d be in together by now, so clearly the ‘argy bargy’ they’ve witnessed has been enough to make them slow down the introduction - a cautious, but wise approach.
Even once the cows are introduced, I wouldn’t expect them to have unsupervised contact (i.e. overnight). Even with their keepers there, if a physical conflict arises, there’s only so much they can do to redirect the elephants; so it’s clear they’re not even at that stage yet, which is understandable given these intros take time.
At the Bronx Zoo, they unfortunately lost a cow back in 2002 during introductions after she was injured by two other cows. It;s certainly not something that can be taken lightly; with elephants being huge animals there's not much keepers can do in the event anything goes wrong (unlike with smaller animals), so keepers have to be entirely confident when these introductions take place.
Elephant move postponed until late April:
From Taronga’s socials:
Tang Mo and Pak Boon’s big move to their new home and herd has been postponed to late April. As you can imagine, moving an elephant – let alone two - is no small feat.
Asian Elephant Pak Boon has recently presented with a health concern to her right eye and our expert teams want to ensure that she is in the best health ahead of her big journey.
From Taronga’s socials:
Tang Mo and Pak Boon’s big move to their new home and herd has been postponed to late April. As you can imagine, moving an elephant – let alone two - is no small feat.
Asian Elephant Pak Boon has recently presented with a health concern to her right eye and our expert teams want to ensure that she is in the best health ahead of her big journey.
Not the best news, but perhaps this is a blessing in disguise in that it will hopefully provide more time for Permai and Burma to progress with their introductions and be completely introduced come the arrival of the Taronga cows.
Whilst it isn't essential, it would certainly be much easier for Permai and Burma to be able to lean on each other for support during those introductions; especially with two socially savvy cows.
I agree. It sounds like Permai has been overwhelmed by the change of coming to a new facility, which is understandable when you consider she arrived at Perth Zoo as a three year old in 1992 and has known no other home since then. Combine this with the loss of Tricia and she’s had a lot to contend with. Having the Taronga cows arrive now could compound any apprehension she’s feeling.
The Taronga cows and Burma were aged 6-14 years upon import and have experience with meeting new elephants (Taronga is the formation of their herd; and Burma via Anjalee’s arrival in 2015). As such, it would come as no surprise to see Burma be more receptive to the arrival of the Taronga cows than Permai.
That’s good news. This isn’t the first time Sandali has had to be separated from the other males due to injury, so fingers crossed for a smooth run going forward.
In other Monarto chimpanzee news, my friend enquired about paternity testing of Zola and Happy and was advised that it hasn’t been undertaken yet.