Deb Aronson’s book “How to Raise a Rhino” (Dragonfeather 2023) begins with the tense rescue of a baby rhinoceros in Kenya. Anna, a small White woman, is “wedged next to the crate ..
. She knew an attack could come at any moment. She was cold.
She was anxious. She was scared. She was ecstatic.
” She had her first rhino in a wood crate. And what a great title: “How to Raise a Rhino.” We wait quite a while for her to actually raise that baby rhino, but first, Anna has to make a sanctuary and rescue the rhinos.
Author Aronson visited Kenya to writer her book. She uses statistics such as, “An estimated 20,000 black rhinos roamed the Kenyan countryside in 1970, but by the time Anna moved there in 1980, there were only 300.” She uses Anna Merz’ extensive diaries to illustrate poignant moments in her story.
Aronson shows us how Anna, as a child, saved sick animals. As a young girl in World War II London, in the midst of exploding bombs, Anna was comforted by animals. War taught her how brief life could be, and she decided to live fully.
For her, that meant travel and adventure. With her husband, she lived in Ghana for some 20 years, raising horses. Someone brought her a sick baby chimp.
Anna nursed him back to health then sent him to a reserve for orphaned chimps. She watched in horror as plants and animals became extinct. Poachers were killing rhinos for their horns and selling “bush meat” in the markets.
The couple moved to Kenya to retire. Even here, “stack.