Deadly disease is decimating the devil and poachers have brought rhinos to the brink of extinction.

The privately-owned zoo is preparing to house about 30 Tasmanian devils.

Director Greg Culell said four free-range enclosures were being built to house the carnivorous marsupials, in partnership with the Tasmanian Government.

"This is a really important cog in the re-establishment of the Tasmanian devils, to help with the facial tumour situation," he said.

Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service says devil facial tumour disease has killed more than 90 per cent of the species' adults in high density areas and up to half in medium to low-density areas.

The Halls Gap Zoo enclosures are due to be finished this month, with the Tasmanian devils due to arrive in August.

Mr Culell said the zoo had spent $1 million to care for the animals.

He said that by 2017, the zoo also hoped to adopt three southern white rhinoceroses as part of a breeding program. He is working with three other privately-owned zoos to bring a total of two males and eight females to Australia.

Each of the four zoos will also work with the International Rhino Foundation and the Australian Zoo and Aquarium Association.

"It means a big new enclosure," Mr Culell said.

He estimates he will need at least two acres and an enormous steel fence to house the rhinos.

The zoo director has allocated $250,000 to the project.

"It's going to cost about $50,000 a rhino and about $30,000 to fly them over," he said. "The remainder of the cost will go towards the enclosure."

The zoo is planning to add more than 40 animals to its menagerie before Christmas, including the Tasmanian devils.

Eleven animals will arrive from New Zealand before the year's end.

Auckland Zoo will transfer two female servals and seven meerkats and Wellington Zoo will send two white-cheeked gibbons.

Mr Culell said he intended to employ another five people to help with all the new additions to the zoo in the next 12 months, one of whom started work last month.

Asked how much his plans would cost in total, Mr Culell said he could not bear to think of it.

"I'm too scared," he said.

"This place bleeds money like it's out of fashion."

But Mr Culell said visitation rates were up about 50 per cent on what they were the previous year.

"It's been one wild ride and a huge learning curve, but we're passionate about endangered species," he said.

"Certainly, with the way we're going, we'll have a really major input in regard to endangered species."