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Conita Walker tells the story of the love match that lured her from the world of international air travel to plunge, somewhat naively, into the life of a conservationist. It is a tale of adventure, mishaps, humour and heartbreak.
Conita's life begins on a remote missionary station; she survives the WWII bombing of Berlin, witnesses the defeat of political systems in both Europe and South Africa, and eventually finds her true mission in the rescue and hand-rearing of black and white rhino orphans. There was a baby hippo to rescue and re-wild too, conservation organisations to found and support, wilderness battles to fight, but it was the rhinos that became her life's work.
Her first male calf, named Bwana, was raised in her back garden, followed by a female hippo calf who grew up in her washroom, and eventually returned to the Palala River and has produced numerous offspring.
The supreme test of her mothering skills was the raising of a very seriously injured black rhino female named Moeng who was saved in the nick of time by the dedicated work of veterinarian Dr Andre Uys. This rhino calf, along with her predecessor 'siblings', were to be viewed up close by thousands of school children who came to Conita's garden while attending the environmental school nearby.
Conita Walker is the wife of South African conservationist Clive Walker and has been a driving, dedicated force behind their combined conservation careers. Since the founding of the Endangered Wildlife Trust in 1973, Conita has been the backroom engine of his long career, firstly as Director of the Trust for 13 years, co-director of their adult wilderness trails organization which operated in the Okavango Delta, the Mashatu Game Reserve and Klaserie in the eastern Lowveld. All the organizational functions, charter flights, catering and professional field guides. With the founding of Lapalala Wilderness reserve in the Waterberg of Limpopo in 1981 she became the alternative director to the owner, Dale Parker and managed what was to become the 'bush camp' operations over 23 years and a Trustee of the Wilderness Trust which established the Lapalala Wilderness School in 1985 which to-date has seen more than 80,000 children, teachers and university students pass through its doors..
