We're offering you the chance to meet Auckland Zoo’s weeks’ old rhino calf AND contribute to rhinoceros conservation in the wild!

At almost exactly 8.00am on the morning of August 14, during Tamaki Makaurau’s most recent Alert level 3 lockdown, our Southern white rhinoceros whanau grew in size with the arrival of Jamila and Zambezi’s first calf.

This is where you come in! In our latest Trade Me fundraiser, raising money for conservation, we’re offering you and up to four of your friends and family, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the female calf and her whanau as well as recieve tech gifted by our friends at Panasonic!

What does this private meet-and-greet entail? Our ungulates keepers will give your group a guided tour and describe the hard mahi that goes into caring for this species; you’ll get to see the calf and her mum up close and personal as well as out on their African Safari habitat before the zoo opens to visitors. And though touching the calf is not possible our keepers say male rhinos Zambezi and Inkosi are always up for a good scratch!

Now the best part of all! Every dollar raised goes to the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund and will help us to continue our support of rhino conservation in the wild. We do this by supporting our partners Lowveld Rhino Trust in Zimbabwe, who track and monitor rhino as well as assist authorities to mitigate poaching in the area, and the Sumatran Rhino Survival Alliance, who are working to establish new conservation breeding sanctuaries in Indonesia to save this rarest of rhinos - fewer than 80 individuals in the wild.

T&Cs: This experience is for a group of up to five people, includes zoo entry and will take place during Alert Level 2 or 1. The winner must be flexible with times as the visit is to take place prior to the zoo opening. Mobility is important as there is uneven ground in areas not normally accessed by visitors – e.g. not wheelchair accessible.