Calperum Station, also known as Calperum Reserve, is a nature reserve located in the east of the Australian state of South Australia about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) north-west of the town of Renmark and about 250 kilometres (160 miles) east of the state capital of Adelaide.
Most of the property is listed as "critical habitat" for a threatened species of bird, the black-eared miner, but it is not an officially-designated protected area.
From around 1846 European men were given annual licences to occupy the area and graze their sheep and cattle, until 14 pastoral leases were issued in 1851.
These were purchased in 1993 by the Chicago Zoological Society, using funds obtained both from the McCormick Foundation[a] and the Australian Government.
[2] The leases were subsequently transferred by deed of assignment to the Director of National Parks to hold in trust.
[7] During the financial year 2013–14, the pastoral leases along with those for the Taylorville Station reserve were transferred to Austland Services Pty Ltd, a company owned by ALT, which "will continue to manage the properties in accordance with the trust arrangements.
[15] It was reported in 2012 that the reserve is being "managed for a broader, additional set of objectives, including environmentally sustainable development such as tourism".
It is planned that 11,000 megalitres (390×10^6 cu ft) of water for the environment would be delivered to the Riverland Ramsar site over the following five years, to help provide habitat for the native wildlife.