The film «There’s A Rhino In My House» is being shown in Harare, Zimbabwe by Imire Safari Ranch. The comments about the film presents a time to comment about the conservation efforts in Zimbabwe. Johnny Rodrigues of ZCTF has been kind enough to accept the underwriter’s invitation to an interview. Here is the interview which was conducted via E Mail.
1. Imire Safari Ranch is planning a film «There’s A Rhino In My House» What is the film about?
It is the story of Tatenda, the black rhino at Imire. In November 2007, when Tatenda was only 6 weeks old, his mother and father were shot by poachers at Imire Safari Ranch and John and Judy Travers, owner of Imire had to hand rear him. The ZCTF raised funds to buy the special fat free milk that Tatenda needed. The milk was not available in Zimbabwe so I made regular trips to South Africa to buy the milk until Tatenda was 18 months old.
The film covers the period from when Tatenda was orphaned until he was released into the semi wild in the Imire Game Park late last year. It is very entertaining because up until he was released, he lived at the farmhouse with John and Judy and he would often walk through their house looking for something to eat. It’s very strange to see a rhino walking through somebody’s house.
2. What is the purpose of the film?
The film was actually made by Anne Somerfield of Oxford Scientific Films in the UK for Animal Planet and it has already been aired on Animal Planet in some countries. Anne Somerfield received awards for «Meercat Manor’. Animal Planet are on our mailing list so they received all the reports we circulated about Tatenda and they thought it would make a very interesting documentary. It’s mainly for entertainment purposes but it does show that it is possible to hand rear a baby rhino and then successfully release it back into the wild. It should make people realize how important we feel it is to ensure the survival of this endangered species.
3. How is the film and fundraiser possible taking into account what has transpired in Zimbabwe?
I’m not sure what you mean by this. With regard to the film, as I said, it wasn’t made by Zimbabweans but by a professional film company from the UK. They obtained permission from the Zimbabwean government and it wasn’t a problem because the film is only about Tatenda’s life. There are no politics involved that the government could have objected to.
As for the fundraiser, I wasn’t involved in this at all so I’m not sure how the Travers managed to organize it although it’s not a big problem to organize a fund raiser here.
4. How long did it take to organize the fundraiser?
I don’t know – I wasn’t involved in it at all. I was only asked to spread the word about it.
5. Who are The Tourettes?
I’ve never actually heard about them but they are obviously a singing group or something.
6. How can the underwriter establish contact with them?
Maybe ask the Travers at Imire.
I would like to thank you Johnny Rodrigues and ZCTF for your time in this interview. It is hoped that there will be more conversation about wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe. My best wishes to you in this Christmas Season and 2010.
El Noticiero de Alvarez Galloso 