Funds raised by Exeter's 'rhinos' will help save real ones

The project will give 60,000 to support work in Africa and South East Asia Credit: ITV West Country

The 'Great Big Rhino Project' has raised £123,000 for wildlife conservation on two continents.

The Project, run by Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, is to give £60,000 to support work in Africa and South East Asia.

In 2016, a free public art trail of 40 life-size painted rhinos was dotted around Exeter and the English Riviera.

This was followed in November by a grand charity auction when 39 of the rhinos were sold in aid of rhino conservation.

One donation of £30,000 will go to Save the Rhino International for their work with Javan and Sumatran rhinos.

The second donation will be used by Paignton Zoo to boost conservation. Credit: ITV West Country

A second donation of £30,000 will be used by Paignton Zoo to boost the conservation of black rhinos through the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust's Dambari field station in Zimbabwe.

The money will support a researcher studying white rhino habitats. Credit: Shirl Peak

Simon Tonge:"The funds will go towards supporting rhino conservation in the Matopos National Park in south west Zimbabwe.

"The money will support a researcher studying the use of habitat by white rhino; help expand the camera trap survey of rhino, information from which informs population management and security strategies; investigate the feasibility of a Radio Frequency Identification System for remote monitoring of rhino and purchase the equipment if it proves feasible; dehorning and ear notching operations; and veterinary responses to rhino injuries, snare wounds and so on."

In 2013, Paignton Zoo's previous venture into public art, the Great Gorillas Project, donated a total of £32,000.