Zoo staff spent two days with Kifaru in the ACT before the rhino was placed into a crate-style shipping container and loaded onto a truck.

Halls Gap Zoo general manager Carlee Vokes travelled with Kifaru on the journey overnight Wednesday to keep him calm and comfortable.

“The rhino enclosure is ready to go. We are anticipating Kifaru will settle right in and be really happy with everything,” she said.

A film crew from Extreme Animal Transport travelled with the Halls Gap Zoo employees, along with three staff from the Canberra Zoo.

Canberra Zoo rhino keeper Siobhan Block was among the team to bring Kifaru to his new home. She has been his primary carer for more than four years.

“Kifaru was born in New Zealand and has grown up at the Canberra Zoo. It's really nice to see him come to his new home,” she said.

“He is approximately two tonne in weight.”

Ms Block said Kifaru was nine. Southern white rhinos can live up to 40 years in captivity.

“We can expect to have this guy around for a very long time,” she said.

Kifaru will form part of a global captive breeding program.

Ms Block said hopefully in the future he would be paired with a female, or be part of an artificial insemination program.

"There are only 20,000 southern white rhinos left in the wild. Rhinos such as Kifaru have important genetic diversity to add to the region," she said.

Ms Block said Kifaru travelled like an "angel" from Canberra Zoo.

"He was sleeping for most of the journey and very calm,” she said. 

“He didn't like the bright lights of the trucks going past, but he was really brave.”

Ms Vokes said how close Kifaru would be for visitors to see him in his early days depended on how he settled in to his new surroundings.

Another southern white rhino from New Zealand will join Kifaru and is scheduled to arrive in Australia mid-2019, when the weather cools down.