A tall, genial and disarmingly humble man, Anthony comes across as deeply concerned about humanitarian issues, animal welfare and the degradation of our planet.
Born in 1950, Anthony is the eldest of three children, and grew up in the African bush, moving to Zambia, Malawi and then Zululand in South Africa according to the dictates of his father’s job in insurance sales.
Although he has no formal conservation training, a youth filled with exploring the African bush cemented a deep and abiding love for the natural world and honed the skills that Anthony needed to turn from estate agent to property developer to a respected conservationist.
With his elegant Parisian wife, Francoise, Anthony has established Thula Thula, a luxury private game lodge just inland from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal which finances his considerable conservation efforts and serves as a base for his conservation work.
For twelve years Anthony has been campaigning to win the trust and support of previously rival clans, encouraging them to work together for the greater benefit of both communities and wildlife, in an ambitious community eco-tourism project.
His perseverance over literally hundreds of meetings is about to pay off.
Fences are will soon be dropped between Thula Thula and neighbouring community land in a joint venture that will ultimately see the local communities owning and operating their own game reserves with the requisite training and transfer of skills. The added benefit will be an extended conservation area of 15,000 hectares that will eventually join up the Hluhluwe-Imofolozi reserve.
Anthony believes that education is the key to future conservation efforts, and this is where Thula Thula plays a part, encouraging visitors to become better acquainted with nature through game drives and guided bush walks where one can feel the thrill of watching and appreciating wildlife up close.
He has also founded the Earth Organization, an independent non-profit international conservation and environmental organisation. Borrowing the franchise principle an applying it to a non-profit scenario, the Earth Organisation encourages members to adopt conservation projects that hold a personal interest for them, giving a constructive outlet to areas of conservation passion.
With cutting insightfulness Anthony says he has never understood the saying to “think outside the box”. “Why would anyone sit inside a box and try to think outside of it. Why not get out the box?” questions Anthony who is a strong believer in questioning societal conventions and the accepted way of doing things.
He certainly did that when settling a herd of rogue elephants on Thula Thula, learning to trust his instinct over textbook knowledge to save the lumbering but powerful pachyderms from certain death as troublesome animals.
Traumatised by the culling of older herd members, the herd Anthony inherited had become escape artists and as custodian of the herd Anthony unwittingly embarked on a personally transforming odyssey as protector and finally as a trusted friend of the herd.
The moving tale is recounted in Anthony’s book, jointly authored with Graham Spence, The Elephant Whisperer, which is already reaching bestseller status in the UK.
Anthony’s 2003 wartime zoo rescue in Baghdad is retold in the exciting book Babylon’s Ark and a film recounting Anthony’s epic rescue is currently under negotiation.
Flowing out of the Baghdad rescue, Anthony is successfully campaigning for the United Nations to give wildlife areas including game reserves, zoos and marine parks the same status as schools and hospitals during times of conflict; and veterinarians and game rangers the same status as doctors and nurses.
“There are so many critically endangered species that a war could prompt the extinction of a species. For many species zoos and game reserves are little Noah’s arks – the last refuge for critically endangered species – and they need to be protected,” says Anthony.
The current draft resolution with the UN seeks to declare an attack on such places as a war crime, and Anthony believes it has a good chance of being adopted.
The father of two adult sons, Anthony, has also won acclaim for his work persuading rebel troops fighting in Uganda to protect the white rhinoceros.
Having a purpose or focus is one of Anthony’s secrets of success. He says the Baghdad zoo rescue succeeded was a result of a heavy focus on purpose. “If you have a purpose, you find a way to achieve it, no matter the odds,” says Anthony.
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