Interview: Kathaleen Hanna

And you traveled to Kenya?

Yes, four times during my time at Friends of Conservation. It was wonderful. Every morning at 5:30 I would go on rhino patrols with four local Masai guys, who were all armed. We would look for poachers. We would look for tourist harassing the black rhinos and we'd also check on their well-being. There were forty black rhinos in the Masai Mara National Reserve and they were all named and numbered. It was absolutely wonderful.

And nowadays, that's your favorite animal, the black rhino?

It's by far my favorite animal. They're intelligent. They're very prehistoric looking, I think. They are an amazing animal. They're very strong, and how they've adapted to survive in that environment is just incredible when you look at the human encroachment. When the charity was started in 1982, there were only eleven black rhino in the Masai Mara and today, as I said, there are forty.

But, they are still endangered.

Still very endangered because, of course, it's horn.

Last spring, we were in Southern Africa filming with Animal Adventures. I know for me, one of the many highlights of the trip was watching the sunset in the Kalahari Desert. I'm wondering if there a defining moment in that trip for you - something that you'll always remember.

There's so much to remember. The whole trip was just amazing. One of the highlights for me, apart from the animal side of it, was being with my Dad. Living over in England, I miss my family a lot. Going through ranger training with my father was another highlight. The two of us went through a three-day course on how to become a ranger. Being in a land rover at Sabi Sabi with my father and driving through the beautiful African bush learning what it's like to actually be in charge of clients looking for wildlife was certainly one.

You have had the opportunity to film with your father on that trip as well as this one. Is segueing into a professional relationship with your dad at all strange?

It's not strange. We did a show when I was ten years old, called Hanna's Ark: 65 half hour programs about wildlife and animals. It was odd when we were in Africa because when the cameras first started and we did our first scene together, it felt like not a day had passed in twenty years. It brought me straight back to my childhood, minus the pigtails. It was wonderful and working with my Dad is a lot of fun. He's full of energy and ideas.

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