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Running with Rhinos: Stories from a Radical Conservationist    by Ed Warner Amazon.com order for
Running with Rhinos
by Ed Warner
Order:  USA  Can
Greenleaf, 2016 (2016)
Hardcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Ed Warner's Running with Rhinos: Stories from a Radical Conservationist is part memoir, part travelogue. He tells us that the title is no euphemism 'when you're the ground support for World Wildlife Fund's Rhino Conservancy Project, specializing in the preservation of black rhinos', of which there are now less than five thousand in sub-Saharan Africa (about five hundred live in private conservancies in Zimbabwe).

Warner tells readers that he's 'a long-term, non-professional volunteer ... who has worked for more than a decade with the veterinarians and biologists who care for rhinos in Africa', doing 'some of the most dangerous volunteer fieldwork around.' An oil and gas exploration geologist, Warner was able to retire early and do as he pleased. He latched on to the philosophy of radical conservationism, fostering public-private partnerships (between local communities and private landowners) and found an opportunity to apply it in Africa.

His account of his African experiences and Rhino Ops is detailed, rambling and at times rather self congratulatory, but filled with colorful characters, fascinating wildlife - and some close calls, with fire as well as wild animals (especially rhinos). Note that Warner is contributing the net proceeds of the book to the Lowveld Rhino Trust and other conservation efforts.

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