Pete Litchfield's recent book, Kamata Kamata Kamata
Pete Litchfield
For a young man who had grown up in a small village in England, joining an animal capture team in East Africa and the Southern Sudan was nothing short of character-building. I had no idea what to expect, really—an adventure, excitement, and the experience of a different climate and culture. It turned out to be all of those things and s
For a young man who had grown up in a small village in England, joining an animal capture team in East Africa and the Southern Sudan was nothing short of character-building. I had no idea what to expect, really—an adventure, excitement, and the experience of a different climate and culture. It turned out to be all of those things and so much more that I never could have imagined. My years in Africa in the 1970s changed my life.
Uganda and South Sudan were dangerous countries back then. Politically unstable, anything could happen at any time and, at times, we were caught right in the middle of it all. But being there was exciting, and we were doing important work in the big scheme of animal conservation.
Traveling into war-torn South Sudan during a brief period of ceasefire, gave us the opportunity to capture Northern White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), which were under threat of extinction. Being able to retrieve enough white rhino for a captive breeding programme left me with a feeling of fulfilment and a strong sense of achievement that we, somehow, were helping to sustain this precious animal population.
War and politics aside—and you’ll read all about what we were up against in my book Kamata Kamata Kamata, Catch Catch Catch—my years in Africa were also memorable for the great camaraderie we built up with our wonderful local colleagues. They were amazing people who not only taught me about life in Africa and important lessons in working with wild animals, but they also helped make a dream come true for this young lad from Woburn.
I’ll never forget those days.