Rhino War

by Major General (Ret.) Johan Jooste, with Tony Park

In 2012 retired South African general Johan Jooste was parachuted into the seemingly unwinnable war against rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park.

With poaching spiralling out of control, Jooste was given the mandate to ‘go military’, to convert Kruger’s ranger corps into a para-military force capable of taking the fight to poachers.

Aged 60, white, and a veteran of 35 years of military service, Jooste’s controversial appointment was immediately met with resentment and outright hostility by elements of South African National Parks, the police, and even the military he had served with.

With the media, government, conservationists, human rights activists and the people of South Africa looking over his shoulder, Jooste had to battle opponents within and without to see through his strategy for turning the tide of rhino poaching.

Rhino War tells how Jooste, facing an unprecedented assault on a single national park and a species, took a demoralised force of men and women and turned them into arguably the best anti-poaching unit on the African continent.

Told through his eyes and stories of the courage and grit of rangers who daily risked their lives to protect wildlife in the face of a wily and determined foe, this is a story of heroism, sacrifice and determination.

Humbly, honestly and decisively, Jooste tells of the successes and failures of his bold strategy, and shares his vision for the future.