SafariLands.org: Lifestyle: A conservationist’s last labour of love

WILD SIDE: Christine East with African Wildlife, the book of photographs taken by her late husband, Rod.

Last August, Hamilton scientist and conservationist Rod East died of cancer, aged 61. He was an unsung eco-hero, including doing ground-breaking work to protect antelope in Africa. In his final months he worked on a beautiful picture book, which has just gone on sale. Widow Christine East speaks about his love of African animals, the importance of his research, and their adventures with elephants.

"Rod was diagnosed with cancer in February last year, and confined to bed. A friend suggested he start the book. It was a labour of love, and he liked to keep his mind busy. Rod sat in bed and picked out 50 of his photos and wrote the text, and our son Jonathan helped type up Rod's words.

Rod's passion for wildlife started as a child. His mother bought books such as Wilderness Champion and Animals Magazines, and he read voraciously. He went to Canterbury University to study sciences and I met him in biology class. I remember him striding in, tall and handsome with a satchel under his arm, and thought, `he's got himself together'.

There was a tight knit group of us that went on to do honours together, and three marriages came out of it, all still together. It was some of these good friends who generously paid for the cost of this beautiful book.

He began working in Africa in the 1970s. He wrote some conservation theory papers, which were published internationally, about the size of reserves increasing species' chances of survival. It was seminal stuff.

Someone at the World Conservation Union (IUCN) called to ask him to join the antelope specialist group of the Species Survival Commission.

There are 70 species of antelope in Africa. If Rod could have been reincarnated as anything, he would have been a sable. They are magnificent, fleet of foot and mind, shy - and he was very shy - but when they are backed into a corner, they come out fighting, and Rod was like that.

He went there 14 times over about 20 years, and I went with him on seven of those trips, all over, to Namibia, Cameroon, Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa.

He found out about species in various areas, their habitat and behaviour, and whether there were any threats.

He did appreciate the beauty, but it was the magnificence of how everything fitted in together, how creatures are so well adapted to what they do. Rod was fascinated with the chaos and order you have in life and death. He was gobstruck by the machinery part of it really, and the beauty of the animals, as was I. We both enjoyed the elephants.

The picture on the cover, Rod chose it because it shows the tactile aspect of elephant behaviour, skin against skin, trunk against trunk. You can see the young, protected among the massive legs of the adults.

It is taken at the Harpoor waterhole in Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa, near Port Elizabeth in about 2002. At the heat of the day, the elephants come to drink. You can see them coming through the spekboom (bush), their head and ears flying about the trees, from ages away. Through the binoculars, their heads look like rocks, coming down the valley. When they get close to the water, they can smell it and the small ones get excited and break into a trot, trunks raised, pointing towards the water.

The first thing they do is take long slurpy sips of water, and after a few trunkfuls of that, they spray themselves with water, all over.

If elephants from another herd meet up, there is all this trumpeting and noise, and little ones running around together.

One time, a car came and parked in front of us, with its engine on, quite close to the elephants. They obviously didn't like it, and all of a sudden, turned and charged the car, trunks tucked in under the body, ears out, and chased him down the road and around the corner.

It is a dual purpose book - it is a tribute to Rod, and a lovely book to maybe inspire other young kids to become conservationists.

It was also his dying wish that proceeds from the sale of his book go to the Hamilton Hydrotherapy Pool Charitable Trust. He observed for years my struggles with rheumatoid arthritis, and knew how much I benefited from and loved exercise in warm water. There is a site mapped out at Waterworld Te Rapa, and council will run, maintain and staff the pool.

A short time before he died, with our family gathered around, he was awarded the Species Survival Commission's most prestigious award, the Sir Peter Scott Memorial Award for conservation merit. People say he did more for the antelope than anyone else; I've had hundreds of emails from around the world. In Africa, they are now taking down fences because of his work, the fences between Kruger National Park and the national parks in Zimbabwe and Mozambique are now down, allowing a greater variety of food and habitat for animals, and a lot of it is to do with Rod's research.

He was a respected scientist, worked at Ruakura and later at Niwa (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research), ending up as deputy CEO, and was a mentor to many.

To him, this book was something for us, and for me, and it's good to have an account which is non-technical. He wrote so many important reports, and I appreciate them, but I love this."

# Interviewed by Kate Monahan

# African Wildlife - Through the Eyes of a Kiwi by Rod East, $30, available through all Hamilton Public Libraries, Hamilton Zoo, and http://www.hydrotrust.co.nz or through 07 839 5506.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz