Monarto Safari Park has welcomed more little hooves to our wild family!

In the past week, the park has welcomed a Plains Zebra foal, a Nyala calf, Eland calf and excitingly a critically-endangered Addax calf.

The little ones join Nyekundu, the park’s three-week-old giraffe calf, two Plains Zebra foals, Cheetah cubs, African Lion cubs and an additional four Nyala calves – all born since the beginning of 2022.

Monarto Safari Park Director, Peter Clark, said the birth of the Addax calf was particularly exciting considering the species’ status in the wild.

“The birth of any species is very exciting for all of us at Zoos SA,” he said.

“However, the birth of an Addax calf is particularly significant as there are less than a hundred of the species left in the wild.

“It has been four years since the last calf, so it is great for us to have add another Addax to the herd and continue to educate visitors about endangered species and our conservation work in the wild.”

Monarto Safari Park is home to more than 50 species, with over 70 per cent of those threatened in the wild.

Critically endangered, Addax are now only found in isolated pockets of the Sahara Desert. Known for their long thin spiral horns, the antelope species has faced threats from poaching and habitat loss.

The flurry of new arrivals has kept the Ungulate team busy as they also prepare for the opening of the Wild Africa safari experience.

“We are particularly pleased to see that animals are breeding and enjoying their space in Etosha – part of our new Wild Africa precinct and where the zebra foals and Eland calf have been born,” Peter said.

“We already have Scimitar-horned Oryx, which are listed as extinct in the wild, along with Waterbuck, Eland and Ostrich in the Wild Africa area and we will also soon add free-roaming species like giraffe, hippos and Southern White Rhino.

“We hope that the experience will continue to shine a light on endangered species as we begin to move more animals into the area in preparation for opening early next year.”

Wild Africa is a 550 hectare area which adjoins the existing Monarto Safari Park site and will soon be the largest safari experience outside of Africa.

Set to be complete in early 2023, visitors and those staying at a resort by a private investor Gerry Ryan will be able to adventure through Wild Africa to see species roam the plains from open-sided vehicles.

While visitors eagerly await the opening, they can see Nyekundu the giraffe calf, the Nyala calves and Addax calf on the Zu-loop bus.

For more information or to book your tickets to Monarto Safari Park, please visit www.monartosafari.com.au.