Rhino Express

It has been said that the most dangerous enemy of even the fiercest and most predatory wildlife is man; yet it must also be admitted that man is, occasionally at least, the animal’s best friend. Rhino Express is the improbably romantic story of a few such friends and their dream of saving the rare white rhino from extinction against nearly impossible odds. 

Totally dependent on grazing, the white rhino was starved out as the vast grasslands of Africa were replaced by crops and orchards. Poachers hunted him for his horn, and by 1896 it was believed that the white rhino had indeed vanished from the earth—until a herd of 20 was discovered in South Africa. Crusading conservations who sheltered these in a small provincial park were soon faced with another heartbreaking problem: overpopulation and inevitable starvation. The only solution was an untried gamble: to transport the 3,500-pound animals on a nonstop, 28-hour, 1,000-mile journey into neighboring Rhodesia. What followed was the cooperation of a few men of different    nationalities who braved blistering heat, deadly cobras, and the dangerous charges of the rhino to accomplish one of the first great conservation projects of modern times. For those who have despaired that our rare birds, our white tigers, and other wildlife can survive “civilization,” Rhino Express is an astonishing account of what a few men with determination—and a particular set of values—can achieve.