Chehaw Park & Zoo hosting annual casino night fundraiser

ALBANY — Chehaw Park and Zoo is bringing awareness to wild rhino conservation during its annual Black Jack & Black Rhinos Casino Night fundraiser Thursday.

The fundraiser will be held at Chehaw’s Creekside Center from 6-10 p.m. Guests can look forward to a “night in Las Vegas” where they can play casino games like blackjack, craps, roulette and Texas hold ‘em.

Tickets for the event are $75 and include admission, access to food stations, a drink ticket for cocktails, beer and wine as well as $2,500 in Casino Bucks and entrance to a raffle. An additional $2,500 in Casino Bucks costs $10.

Chehaw Park dedicates itself to protecting endangered species and their habitats, Executive Director Morgan Burnette said. The park’s zoological facilities conduct research on conservation and provide educational opportunities as well as opportunities for the public to connect with animals.

This is the second year Chehaw is hosting the event, and all proceeds will directly benefit the park and zoo, Burnette said. Some of the funds raised also will go to the International Rhino Foundation, which through grant and field efforts, works toward the conservation of rhinos in 10 different countries.

“We try to focus on groups that are doing the most good in the world,” Burnette said.

Last year’s event drew about 130 people, and $2,100 was donated to IRF to fund the purchase of Wildlife Crime Investigative Kits, Burnette said. The kits cost about $500 and provide all the equipment needed for officers to collect legally admissible evidence from wildlife crime scenes.

The kits include surgical gloves, scalpel blades, tubes for handling and preserving biological evidence to avoid contamination and much more.

Poaching is the No. 1 threat to rhinos’ survival, Burnette said. Their tusks are made out of keratin, the same element that makes up human hair and fingernails. The tusks are very valuable. Rhinos can live without their tusks, but they are often killed for them.

“They’re in such a bad state that some of these rhinos have their own bodyguards essentially,” she said.

The conservation of rhinos hits especially close to home for Chehaw because of one of its rhino residents.

Sam Houston, a black rhino from Texas, lives at the park. On Saturdays and Sundays, the park offers free rhino feedings. People can come right up to Sam and the other rhino residents of the park and feed them leaves while learning about the species and conservation efforts surrounding them.

“He is quite the character,” Burnette said. “Definitely a zookeeper favorite. He’s perfectly happy being the only big man on campus.”

The park is connected to a large national and international network of zoos and aquariums, she said.

“We are more than just animals here at the park in Albany,” Burnette said. “It’s great that we have these animals here that people can come see, but the goal is really to make that connection and encourage conservation action.”

The work done with Sam and the other rhinos at Chehaw directly benefits saving animals out in the wild by supporting conservation and breeding programs, she said.

The money raised at Casino Night also will go to the park to better help feed the animals and provide them the best quality care, the park director said.

“We want people to come out and have a good time,” Burnette said. “Get out, enjoy your neighbors, enjoy your park and zoo, but also know that this money is going directly to help the community’s park.”

Tickets can be purchased at www.artesianalliance.org/events. Sponsorship opportunities for the event are still available. For more information about sponsorships, or the event itself, contact Morgan at [email protected].

Special Photo: Chehaw Park & ZooSpecial Photo: Chehaw Park & Zoo