For almost 30 years, Geoff Brooks has watched Monarto Safari Park change around him.

He has seen new species arrive, habitats expand and landscapes transformed. He has helped build facilities, welcomed rhinos from across the world and driven countless kilometres through the Park before most people have even started their day.

And through it all, he has kept a camera close by.

Now, as Geoff prepares to retire from his role as Team Leader Works, it is those unplanned moments, a giraffe birth, an echidna crossing the road, two lions sharing a head rub, that tell the story of his time at Monarto Safari Park.

“It never really has felt like work since I’ve been here because it’s such an enjoyable place to be, to spend your days,” Geoff said.

“Every day is different.”

A camera always close at hand

Geoff first came to Monarto Safari Park as a volunteer before joining the maintenance team in 2000. Within two years, he had become Property Manager, a role that gave him the chance to work across almost every corner of the park and alongside teams, from animal care and veterinary services to volunteers and executives.

Photography had been part of his life long before Monarto Safari Park.

“I’ve had a camera since I was a little kid, and since I’ve been here, I’ve always carried my camera with me,” he said.

“Everything I take out here is pretty much opportunistic. I found if I go looking for a photo, I generally can’t find it. I’m just lucky enough to be in the positions that I am sometimes to capture some of the most amazing things I’ve seen out here.”

Among those moments are around 21 Giraffe births, as well as births of Eland, Bison and Barbary Sheep.

Giraffes remain a favourite subject.

“When the newborn hits the ground, they’ll all come around to have a look, have a sniff,” Geoff said.

“Just the reactions when you get a birth, how the entire group comes together, you feel like they’re quite intimate photographs.”

His archive also includes a photograph of African Lion brothers Levi and Leroy that remains one of his favourites.

The pair were sitting several metres apart when Geoff lowered himself to the ground to photograph them in profile. Levi, the more assertive of the two, kept a close eye on him before walking towards his brother.

“I went, ‘I know what you’re doing, mate,’” Geoff recalled.

The moment Levi looked down to greet Leroy, Geoff captured the interaction, just before Levi turned his attention back towards him.

“They were chalk and cheese,” Geoff said. “But yeah, it’s one of my favourite photos of the boys.”

Watching Monarto Safari Park grow

The Monarto Safari Park Geoff first knew looked very different.

Where the Visitor Centre now stands was once a quarry. Areas that are today home to some of the park’s best-known species were once used to grow hay.

“We didn’t have African Painted Dogs or hyenas or lions or rhinos,” he said.

Few projects capture that transformation more clearly for Geoff than the arrival of Southern White Rhinos.

He remembers meeting Monarto Safari Park’s first rhino, Uhura, and helping with fundraising efforts to bring her to the Park. Later came a much larger challenge.

“[Former Director] Chris Hammock said to me one day, ‘Can you build me a facility that’ll hold 10 rhino?’ And I went, ‘Don’t see why not.’”

That facility helped make possible ‘Operation White Rhino’, which brought seven Southern White Rhinos from Africa to South Australia.

Geoff remembers the Martinair jet landing, the rhinos being unloaded at Adelaide Airport, and the extraordinary sight of their journey through Adelaide under police escort.

Since then, seven rhino calves have been born at Monarto Safari Park, while the development of Wild Africa has created even more space for the species.

“It’s been a fair journey, and it’s been a great project to be involved in,” he said.

The mornings he will miss

For all the milestones, Geoff’s strongest memories are often found in the quieter parts of the day.

“Early mornings are always the best time of the day for me. The light is beautiful,” he said.

Before seeing anyone else, Geoff might drive 16 to 20 kilometres checking the park.

“It’s been wonderful having this place to myself in the mornings for so many years.”

For a time, Geoff also shared a photograph with staff every Friday. There was no plan for what the image would be. Something would simply present itself during the week; a giraffe birth, lion cubs, Emu chicks or even an Echidna.

“The novelty has never worn off here,” he said.

“You always see something different. It’s just that little surprise you get in your day, which is great.”

As retirement approaches, it is not only the animals, landscapes or photographs that make leaving difficult.

It is the people.

“Everybody up here works together as a team,” Geoff said. “Even though you might have different departments, the vets, your keepers, maintenance guys, we’re all part of the one larger team.”

Even the daily morning meeting, where teams gather to plan through the day ahead, became something more than a briefing.

“It’s as much a social event as anything,” Geoff said.

“So I’ll miss that.”

After nearly three decades of early starts, unexpected encounters, major projects, and thousands of photographs, Geoff leaves with a remarkable visual record of Monarto Safari Park’s evolution, and the memories of a place that, after all this time, never stopped surprising him.