African Wildlife & Environment Issue 82

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

know what kind of dedication and courage it takes, to follow up on fresh tracks of poachers, who have hacked off a rhino’s horn and are willing to fight to get away with their prize. Anton never wavered and always led from the front, with numerous successes. Matt Lindenberg who founded the Global Conservation Corps (GCC) in 2015 as a US-based non-profit organization, focuses on African-specific conservation and he approached me in 2016. GCC’s primary mission is to conserve wildlife by bridging the gap between local communities and conservation. Its founding core belief is that only with the support, buy-in and inclusion of communities surrounding conservation areas, can these natural areas endure well into the future. Matt had been introduced to Anton at the SAWC and they had formed a great bond, as Anton was prone to do. Matt was working on a full feature documentary film called Rhino Man and he felt that someone like Anton epitomised what they were looking for. Matt then started filming Anton and his second in command, Orlat Ndlovu, and others in the Timbavati. They accompanied them on anti-poaching patrols and stayed over in the pickets

in the bush with them, to get a feeling of what the field rangers go through. Aerial support through helicopters was also included, and this film will be a testament to the legacy that is Anton Mzimba. A recent podcast that was done by GCC with Anton can be found at https://rhinomanthemovie.org/ep-6 anton-mzimba/ A company called ‘Leads to Business’ also commissioned a film called The heart of a ranger on YouTube based on the work that Anton and his fellow field rangers were doing on the front line, and it was this film that was also used in my motivation for the Rhino Conservation Awards. Some of the extracts from Anton in this movie are difficult to listen to now, and almost prophetic where he said: “I am a hero, I am not shy to say to myself that I am a hero. Because I know that the poacher before he can shoot at the rhino, is going to shoot at me first. But that fear does not overcome the bravery that I have to save the rhino, so I will call myself a hero, because I am not working for my own interest, I am doing it for the sake of the whole world. It is quite challenging when it comes to protecting the

20 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 82 (2022)