There won’t be a chance to see a black rhino in the African wild ever again, but visitors on safari to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo can soon see two black rhinos in residence.

Extinct in the African wild, the rhinos are “critically endangered” elsewhere.

The several hundred guests at the 2012 Zoo Ball African Affair on May 12 raised almost $191,000 for the rhino project.

Starting everything off were cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the Grizzly Grill, where folks were up close and personal with a baby porcupine, an African penguin, a large tortise, a skunk and a parrot as they learned about the animals and their care from the zookeepers.

Dinner in the Lodge at Moose Lake included a lively auction including a Viva Las Vegas trip by private jet. Auctioneer Kevin Patterson ramrodded a bidding competition between Dr. Ron Pelton and Gayle Beshears. Beshears won — but the two competitors realized that he also had snared a Botox offering from Pelton at a previous event.

Co-chairs Mari Sinton-Martinez and Kirsten Hillstrom were ecstatic with the black-tie evening’s success. Their committee members: Sheree Ahrendsen, Alex Dumas, Ann Fuller, Sally Hybl, Lynn Janeczek, Jamie Kratt, Monica Peloso, Jenny Thatcher, Heather Van Sant, Yvonne Conrad, Tia Ferguson, Kristin Guggenhime-Wellens, Jill Johnson, Ruben Manuel, Terri Stevens and Michel Tomsic.