Tony Fitzjohn

Infobox_Scientist
name = Anthony Raymond Fitzjohn


caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1945|7|7
location = London, England,
deathdate = | location =
residence = Tanzania
nationality =
field = Conservationist
work_institution =
alma_mater =
religion =
doctoral_advisor =
spouse = Lucy Fitzjohnknown_for = Field director, George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trusts
prizes = OBE (2006)

Anthony Raymond Fitzjohn, OBE is a conservationist who has worked extensively with George Adamson at Kora in Africa.

At the age of 22, he left a dead-end job and hitchhiked from South Africa to Kenya. His only ambition was to work with animals and he ended up one day at George Adamson's camp at Kora after he had written Adamson's wife, Joy Adamson.

Partnership

Fitzjohn turned out to be a natural with the lions. Within days of his arrival, he managed to assert control over an aggressive male lion, armed with nothing. So began a working partnership (with Adamson) which lasted nearly 18 years. During their time together, Adamson and Fitzjohn reintroduced more than 30 lions and 10 leopards into the wild and pioneered the development and management of the Kora National Park. Setting up camps, creating airstrips and cutting more than 300 miles of bush roads, was punctuated by fighting numerous battles with ivory poachers and Somali bandits, as well as Fitzjohn being mauled by a lion and almost killed in 1975.Citation | last = Jackman | first = Brian | title = Tanzania: The lion man of Cockfosters In Tanzania, an Englishman is champion of endangered big game. | newspaper = Daily Telegraph | year = 2001 | date = 06 Feb 2001 | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/1999/04/10/ettanz10.xml&page=1/]

The years at the Kora National Reserve proved an invaluable learning experience for Fitzjohn which helped him build the Mkomazi Game Reserve. Kora made Fitzjohn an expert in capturing, collaring and radio-tracking Africa's top predators, as well as raising and returning them to the wild.

The challenge facing him at Mkomazi demanded all these skills, and more. It required someone who was an experienced wildlife manager, fluent in Swahili, a bush pilot, a skilled engineer and mechanic who could build roads, cut boundaries, strip down and re-assemble 4WD vehicles and plant machinery, set up two-way radio networks, construct and de-silt dams, maintain electrical and power equipment, organize anti-poaching patrols, deal with the bureaucracy, and keep a remote camp supplied. All this, and the ability to establish breeding programs for highly endangered species whilst constructing and repairing schools in the villages around Mkomazi Game Reserve, helping with medical dispensaries and maintaining friendly relations with the local communities.Citation | last = Boynton | first = Graham | title = The 'Hippie Tarzan" With a New Calling. | newspaper = Daily Telegraph | year = 2003 | date = 02 Dec 2003 | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2003/12/02/fttusk02.xml&page=1/]

The modern-day requirements of this operation, staffed only by volunteers, means that Fitzjohn has to spend a lot of time traveling in order to raise funds and generate publicity for the project. He lectures at the Royal Geographical Society, schools, zoos, wildlife parks, and talks to diverse groups of supporters. He has also testified on wildlife issues on behalf of the Tanzanian government at a Congressional Sub-Committee hearing in Washington, DC. Having spent his life committed to the conservation of East Africa, he believes that Tanzania can provide the perfect refuge for some of the continent’s most endangered animals.

In recognition of his service to wildlife conservation, Fitzjohn was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2006. [Citation | title = HM THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS 2006 - DIPLOMATIC SERVICE AND OVERSEAS LIST | date = 2006 June 01
year = 2006 | url = http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1148478918665&year=2006&month=2006-06-01
accessdate = 2008 June 01]

Track record

- Established and stocked the first successful Rhino sanctuary in Tanzania.

- 30 years of successful rehabilitation of zoo animals into the wild.

- Gained National Park status for two game reserves.

- Completed the construction of a new secondary school for 400 children.

- Provided local communities with clean water supply, dispensary and Flying Doctor service.

- First successful captive breeding program for endangered African Hunting Dog in East Africa.

- Ground-breaking veterinary research into disease of endangered species.

- 20 years of developing and supporting Anti-Poaching Units.

Films

;"The Leopards of Kora": A BBC documentary released in 1992, about the release of two leopards into the Kora Preserve in the mid-1980s. ;"Born to be Wild": A BBC documentary released in 1999, about the translocation of the elephant, Nina, to the Mkomazi Game Reserve after 27 years in captivity. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330085/] ;"Mkomazi: Return of the Rhino": Produced by Henson International Television, this documentary follows the capture in South Africa of four black rhinos and their journey back to their original homeland of Mkomazi in Tanzania. [http://www.parthenonentertainment.com] ;"To Walk with Lions": This 1999 film is the dramatic continuation of George Adamson's (Richard Harris) fight to save Kenya's wildlife. Together with his young assistant Tony Fitzjohn (John Michie), Adamson battles to keep the animals on his game reserve Kora from dangerous poachers and deadly shifta warriors who are determined to destroy rhinos and elephants for their tusks, and lions for their rich pelts. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132563/] [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005LOUN] [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117914317.html?categoryid=31&cs=1]

References

External Links

* [http://www.georgeadamson.org/ GAWPT] UK Website
* [http://www.wildlifenow.com/ Mkomazi] US Website (WildLifeNow.com)
* [http://www.mkomazi.de/ Mkomazi] German Website
* [http://www.rhinoclub.nl/ Mkomazi] Netherlands Website
* [http://video.aol.com/video-detail/tony-fitzjohn/3411734112/ Tony Fitzjohn Interview] Plum TV, Aspen
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25929574/ Today Show Interview with John Rendall and Ace Bourke] Re: Christian the Lion