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Of Douglas Adams and Rhinoceros… 3/16/2007 2:53:20 AM
I have always felt an affinity to Douglas Adam, loving his Hitch Hikers series and writing within the same genre as him. I was therefore delighted to find recently that we also shared another interest, that of conservation and in particular, Rhinos!
I was incredibly fortunate a few years ago to take part in a conservation project in Kenya, studying and helping to conserve the Black Rhino. The experience was unforgettable and one day I will finish writing up my diary from my notes on it. I went out on Rhino patrol early in the morning, walked through the savannah with wild animals including lions, elephants and buffalo close by and even managed to spend time with a young adult Rhino, Morani, following him around for a few hours. I will always treasure the experience.
I have just added ‘Save the Rhino’ to the growing number of wildlife charities I belong to and that is when I found that Douglas Adams was their founding patron. Since his untimely departure, they have held a memorial lecture annually in his honour and last night I was delighted to attend the latest one with my wife. This year the eminent anthropologist and wildlife conservationist, Dr Richard Leakey was speaking and what a mighty presence he had as he stood at the lecturn. I feel privileged to have been in the same room and to have heard him speak about the future of conservation in East Africa.
As an added and unexpected bonus to the evening, an introductory homage was paid to Douglas Adams by Clive Anderson. The speech was extremely funny and after Dr Leakey spoke, we were entertained further by Clive as he acted as auctioneer to raise money for charity. He proved to be very canny at eliciting bids, telling people what they were bidding rather than asking them and somehow managed to get a bid of £2000 for a multi-coloured rhino made from recycled flip-flops! In all an evening that was funny, insightful and also raised money for a good cause. I even spied ex-python Terry Jones there to add to my personal enjoyment of the evening.
To find that I share the same interests as Douglas only adds to my enthusiasm for conservation and my inspiration for writing. I strongly urge anyone to join in the fight for the Rhino and other wildlife. You can read about and join Save The Rhino at www.savetherhino.org (they also have a myspace profile) and take part in conservation projects (as I did) through the charity Earthwatch. Please also look out for Dr Leakey’s website(s) and do as much as you can to support this beautiful planet of ours. The Earth is, after all “Mostly Harmless”.
