Soul of the Rhino

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 31 DÉC. 2007

Mishra, formerly director of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation in Nepal, began his career as a wildlife officer for Nepal\x92s Ministry of Forests in 1967, tracking rhinos through the forest of Chitwan and helping complete the ministry\x92s first rhino census. Determined to find ways to minimize the conflicts between humans and wildlife, particularly rhinos, Mishra studied at the University of Edinburgh and at America\x92s Yellowstone National Park before working with representatives of King Mahendra to establish Nepal\x92s national park system and implement programs that would help eliminate poaching and increase the rhino population; "wildlife tourism," for instance, not only increased awareness of animals, but helped relieve local poverty, a leading motivation behind poaching. Mishra\x92s account of his 30-year campaign to save the rhino in Nepal include stories of exotic Hindu-Buddhist rituals, royal hunts in the jungle and his relationship with the amazingly charismatic perissodactyls, which all contrast well with detailed accounts of political and diplomatic maneuvering. Mishra\x92s tone is unavoidably melancholy describing the rhino\x92s uncertain fate-especially the re-emergence of poaching-but the account of his worthy struggle is enchanting, even mesmerizing, throughout.