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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.
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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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