Epic quest to save endangered rhino

Book: The Last Rhinos

Author: Lawrence Anthony, with Graham Spence

Publisher: Sidgwick and Jackson

Review: Debbie Reynolds

No exaggeration – I read this book in a day. Having taken it along as a “holiday read” in Ponta d’Ouro, I picked it up one morning and literally didn’t put it down (except, of course, for forays to the bathroom and the fridge!) until it was, unfortunately, finished. I say unfortunately because its storyteller, Lawrence Anthony, died unexpectedly earlier this year. Unknowingly, The Last Rhinos would be his last book.

What a pity.

With the help of seasoned journalist Graham Spence, Anthony is a supreme storyteller and a man who certainly lived his life to the fullest.

His first book, Babylon’s Ark, told the story of how he rescued the animals from Baghdad Zoo.

The second, The Elephant Whisperer, was the amazing story about how he tamed a herd of rogue elephants – the same elephants who arrived at his home at Thula Thula Game Reserve in Zululand to pay their respects after his death.

The Last Rhinos tells the story of Anthony’s epic quest to save the last northern white rhinos in the Congo. Battling red tape and conflicting government departments, he finds himself thrust into the dangerous politics and war of central Africa.

To save the rhino, Anthony has to negotiate with the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army and some of the most dangerous men on earth.

If you are sitting on the fence about the destruction of our natural heritage – and more specifically our rhinos – this book should push you over the edge to do something constructive about it.

In his forward Anthony writes: “The author condemns past and present governments of Vietnam, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia who have failed to take effective action to end the superstitious use of rhino horn in so called traditional medicine. Their criminal neglect has driven the rhinoceros to the very brink of extinction all over the world.” - The Mercury