African Wildlife & Environment Issue 85

GOOD READS

facilities in South Africa. A completely false story about rhinos imported to the San Diego Zoo testing positive for TB rattled the bureaucrats at AUSDAFF; some TARP Board members got cold feet and wanted to shut down the project. Ray was finally pushed out after leading the project for four years. You have to read this book yourself to get an insight into the complexity of the saga, and

the country that could become alien invaders, or bring with them parasites or pathogens that could pose a threat to their indigenous biodiversity. But rhinos had previously been brought to zoos in Australia with the necessary permits and veterinary health clearances. Ray made friends and developed very good relations with several zoo administrators who supported his ideas, and was himself supportive of increasing the numbers

of rhinos in Australian zoos, but was determined that TARP would set up a free-living breeding herd as an insurance against the extinction of the animals in their African homelands. Some of the biggest issues and stumbling blocks arose around the requirements for biosafety and quarantine required by AUSDAFF the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. In April 2014, Ray wrote to Dr Andrew Cupit at AUSDAFF giving full details of the project and asking for help and advice in obtaining the necessary permissions. He was told that the rhinos would have to be

White Rhinos (Photograph: John Wesson)

the passion and energy that Ray put into this project. For example, there was competition between the two leading Australian TV networks, Channel Seven and Channel Nine, both of which wanted exclusivity for covering the TARP story. Ray found himself caught in the fierce rivalry between these media houses and suffered deeply from the damaged personal relationships that resulted. Something similar happened in the competitiveness between the Taronga Zoo in Sydney and the Monarto Safari Park near Adelaide. There are chapters on the plight of rhinos and numerous aspects of their conservation, including the endemic African affliction of corruption, the crime syndicates and organised poaching in national parks and private reserves, and much more. Ray travelled between Australia and South

held in quarantine for 12 months in an approved, licenced or registered zoo or animal park in the exporting country. Great efforts were made for such a site to be identified in South Africa. Eight months later Ray was told that there was ‘in principle’ agreement from AUSDAFF and other relevant government departments that the importation of rhinos from SA could go ahead. But the wheels started coming off with changes in personnel at AUDAFF and the appointment of a replacement for Andrew Cupit, who was completely risk-averse and apparently paranoid about the possibility of TB being introduced to Australia. Levels of bureaucracy increased, the one-year quarantine period was extended to two years, and very demanding details were required about the quarantine

7 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 85 (2024)