From Ian Player’s first visit to the iMfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa’s Zululand in 1952, the salvation of the White Rhino from extinction became almost an obsession with him. The White Rhino, the second largest land animal in the world, had roamed over the southern half of the African continent in large numbers during the nineteenth century. Now fewer than five hundred remained, confined to 72,000 acres – not nearly enough territory for them to remain healthy and alive. The problems faced by Ian Player and his co-workers, both African and European, were twofold: How to repopulate the game reserves where White Rhinos had once lived and how to supply White Rhinos to the zoos of the world.

The techniques for capturing and transporting the huge animals are fascinating. The White Rhino Saga is a book for every lover of the wild. The danger of the captures, the disappointments, the ultimate successes, make a splendid tale.” It is a tale of adventure, of Africa, of animals, and of the man who set out to save them.