The Last Rhinos: My Battle to Save One of the World's Greatest Creatures

This book is an excellent read and one really develops much empathy for the plight of the White Rhino. The determination of Lawrence Anthony to conserve not only the White Rhinos but also the other wild animals in danger of extinction. One can view this book as a sequel to his previous book "The Elephant Whisperer" another excellent book which I read before I started and finished reading this book. Lawrence went to incredible lengths, even negotiating with rebels in the Congo in order to save the rhinoceros which is now an endangered species because of heavy poaching. The indiscriminate killing of rhinos for their horns which are made into powder and used as an aphrodisiac in the Far East. It is an immense tragedy that rhino horn is very expensive and profitable for the poachers and their partners. As the author says, rhino horn is keratin, the same chemical that human finger nails are composed. Eating finger nail clippings would have the same affect as rhino horn which is no affect at all as an aphrodisiac. He tells us about the poachers cruel methods to kill rhinos. While reading of his experiences and his great love and passion for the animals he tried to save, one develops a hate for poachers, and in my honest opinion, they should be shot in the same way as they killed animals for money and nothing else. Not only do poachers deserve the death sentence for murdering animals they also destroy the ecosystems and balance on which every living creature depends. If only there were more people of the caliber of Lawrence Anthony,the earth would be a far better place and wild life would abound unhindered. The personal sacrifices that he had made to achieve the goal of saving endangered animals had taken its toll on his health and unfortunately he passed away suddenly just before receiving an award for his wonderful endeavors. He has left a rich legacy to the world of conservation and it is my wish that there would be many people who would follow his great example in preserving animals. This book is an exciting read and it is very difficult to put down. One almost feels as if one is accompanying him on his challenging crusades at great financial cost to himself to achieve the noble goal of his belief in assisting animals in distress because of poacher cruelty.

Enjoyed this book and every other book by this author. Enjoyable reading, educational and inspiring at the same time!

Book was phenomenal - explaining all the intricacies about navigating the systemic barriers to animal conservation while still providing hope and encouragement for the readers. Truly a book that needs to be shared to spur people to take action and save species before they are extinct!

I hesitated to give this book a high rating because it wasn't what I was hoping for: an account of the way intrepid humans saved a bunch of rhinoceroses, filled with charming anecdotes about rhino behavior. I don't know what I was thinking when I expected that, because I know the situation for all the rhino species is unspeakably dire. Co-author Graham Spence says he thought of calling the book "Blood Horn" and that might have been a more direct approach to indicate that this book is, at least in part, an outraged call to action. The Last Rhinos as a title feels contemplative and wistful, as if there is nothing left to be done, and unfortunately, that is the attitude that too many people are already taking. There are only three rhinos in this entire book. Lawrence Anthony never even gets to meet a single member of the subspecies he's trying to save before they're utterly gone. Instead of the happy stories I somehow expected, this book is a fact-and-experience-based indictment of the fatal disregard humans have for the other species on this planet. A single anecdote about the rhino who lives in Thula Thula, Anthony's reserve in South Africa, serves to belie the idea that rhinos are not intelligent or adaptable, and I will treasure that. Perhaps to try and make up for the general lack of rhino experiences, Anthony intersperses what becomes a bizarre and scary narrative of human politics with incidents involving elephants, bushbabies, buffalo, and other wonderful animals. All the stories point to his deep belief that animals are as worthy as humans to occupy their space and live undisturbed. At a couple of points, he comments that any person who spends enough time with animals will witness evidence of their intelligence and sociability. There are also many examples that make the reader appreciate the difficulty of the life of conservationists in the wild and the talent and bravery of people who work with endangered animals. The beginning and much of the rest of the book kept me on the edge of my seat with exciting, suspenseful and true occurrences, definitely material for the cinema. Please, someone, make a movie of this book (perhaps with a few more darling rhinos in the film version) and show it to people who consume rhino horn. Because Anthony does not accomplish any of his goals for the rhinos. Absolutely everything goes badly wrong, often causing physical reactions in this reader. To top it all off, before the book was published, Lawrence Anthony passed away, and the animals lost their incredible champion. We're still here, and we need to step in for them because, incredibly, these half-ton, armored creatures with giant swords on their heads can't defend themselves from human greed. There's still a chance to turn this sad story around for the remaining rhinos. The Northern White Rhino is the largest animal to go extinct since the woolly mammoth.

The Last Rhino by Lawrence Anthony is one of the best books that I have ever read. The author has done an outstanding job in exposing the truth about how civil war and poaching go hand-in-hand, as they pertain to the destruction of wildlife, especially the African rhino. This is no ordinary thesis on the endangerment of one of the world's largest land mammals. It is a story that was experienced by the author at great risk to his own life and others who where with him on his many forays into the jungles of Uganda and elsewhere. Seldom does any author ever put so much of their life and future at risk, so as to tell the "whole story". Lawrence Anthony does just that in this thrilling true-life tale of life in the deepest and darkest reaches of the African continent. This is a "must read" book.

I loved this book! I first read Lawrence Anthony's book the elephant whisperer and knew I would read every other book he has written. Once I finished the first page I was hooked!!! This particular story focuses on the conservation effort to save the rhinos..... Which sadly, is a losing battle :(. However the author sheds plenty of light on the human cruelty and suffering with African communities as well. Lawrence Anthony's life story is nothing short of sheer sacrifice and deepest commitment to save the African wildlife. There is a tremendous tale of the corrupt and very complicated political system in Africa. Of which I knew nothing about. The book will take you on an emotional, enraging and spiritual journey...of course only if you have the slightest care of the immenent situation of losing the earths most precious creatures to extinction. For me, I can't help but wonder what can I do? But thankfully for Lawrence Anthony he did not wonder but simply did! This agonizing situation has got to be dealt with...the world must come together with combined, compassionate efforts to permanently eliminate the desire for the unnecessary slaughter and cruelty of these God given creatures simply for their keratin tusks. My flight to Thula Thula is booked for November...it is one person...one step, but better than doing nothing. Beautiful book, and a huge loss within the conservation community, he was a remarkable human being.

Well written , interesting and a couldn’t put it down book. Excellent . Really enjoyed it and gives a first hand truthful insight into this magnificent and dangerous and different world. Thank you

Its a confronting but excellent read.

I picked up The Elephant Whisperer on a whim before heading off on safari.. and promptly spent a whole day after a game drive bursting into tears by the lodge pool. The minute I finished I downloaded The Last Rhinos and kinda sobbed through most of that too - the situation with poaching is desperately sad and yet so inspiring that Lawrence Anthony never stopped trying to find some new solution to make a difference. And what an effort he makes in this - tireless running around between reluctant governments and conservation organisations and, truly bizarrely, one of the world's most notorious 'warlords', Joseph Kony. And all on the faint hope that a few White Northern Rhinos still survived in remote DRC, and there was a possibility of finding them before the poachers did. The incredible thing was that Lawrence was uniquely placed to instigate projects like these (due to contacts and specialist knowledge), and the story starts off as unlikely and gets more and more incredible as the Lord's Resistance Army gets involved. Although the events in this book took place a few years ago (2006 I believe), they seem oddly very relevant with the recent publicity surrounding Kony and, of course, the news that Lawrence himself passed away just a couple of months ago in March. Reading that in the epilogue hit me like a ton of bricks, I had no idea at all and it was a desperately sad finale after reading everything he had been through. This is such an inspiring and moving book - definitely read The Elephant Whisperer first but kudos to Graham Spence for crafting the true story into such readable and moving stuff.

Lawrence Anthony hat mit seinem Schwager drei Bücher geschrieben, leider ist nur der Elefantenflüsterer ins Deutsche übersetzt. Aber auch dieses Buch und das über die Zoorettung im Irakkrieg ist sehr gut und unendlich spannend. Der Mann macht Mut und kämpft für die richtigen Sachen, unglaublich was einer alleine auf die Beine gestellt bekommt. Trotzdem ist das Buch über die Elefanten wohl das schönste. Aber Nana und ihre Herde kpmmt auch hier wieder vor. Als Larrence Anthony 2012 gestorben ist kamen die Elefanten übrigens zu seinger Lodge und haben dort einige Tage verbracht- um sich zu verabschieden?