In 2006, Lawrence Anthony once again placed his life on the line to protect the wildlife stranded in war zones. This time, the animal to be protected was the Northern White Rhinoceros in war-ravaged Southern Sudan. The last four remaining rhinoceros of this species resided in Garamba National Park (GNP) where it was unfortunately, also the chosen base camp for the vicious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The LRA has been at war with the Ugandan government for almost two decades and it consisted of leaders who were internationally notorious for their war crimes such as rape, use of child soldiers and mass murder of civilians. At the park alone, they had already mercilessly killed twelve national park’s rangers and eight United Nations (UN) soldiers. This caused the UN to formally withdraw from GNP which handed control over to LRA solely. Thus, the fate of the Northern White Rhinoceros species laid completely in the hands of LRA. Instinctively, one would would think that all hope is lost. Why would these people concern themselves with the life of an animal when they cannot even treasure the life of a human? And why would they be persuaded by a mere man?

Yet surprisingly, they did and they were.

When Anthony heard that there was a formal meeting between the LRA leaders and the Ugandan government, he decided to gatecrash it without any visa or invitation. When he arrived, he spotted the LRA chairman and decided to introduce himself with the purpose of his visit. However, he was met with distrust and zero interest. Thankfully the next day, Anthony was informed that he was invited to talk to the rebels about the rhinos.

Despite the rumors of a kidnapping plot, Anthony was undeterred and chose to brush aside those worries to focus on his goal of the protection of the Northern White Rhinos. He met and persuaded the rebels right at the bank of the White Nile river without thinking about the consequences if his plan fell through which was ultimately torture and death.

          “When I explained there were only four rhinos left in the wild they were                     genuinely shocked. They thought there were still hundreds of them.”                    -Anthony on pleading the LRA to take action

Luckily for him, the rhino was considered a religious totem symbol by majority of the soldiers in LRA as they all grew up in the bush with strong cultural ties to wildlife. This created a personal spiritual relevance between the LRA and the Northern White Rhinos which gave LRA a stronger reason to protect the endangered animal. It also eased Anthony’s initial worries of LRA hunting the rare white rhinos for food or selling their horns on the black market. There was a glimmer of hope!

After the talk with the rebels, Anthony soon found himself as a middle man between the rebel forces and the Ugandan government for the establishment of a ceasefire agreement. Despite being a mere conservationist, the rebel forces trusted him and this allowed him to negotiate better with them. Realizing that he had this power, Anthony decided to take this chance to suggest his own conditions which included the promised protection of the white rhinos and additionally, the end of the usage of child soldiers and closing of refugee camps where people were exposed to rape and disease. The rebels had their own conditions as well. If they were to ensure that they protected the last four Northern White Rhinos, Anthony had to promise them that the UN’s military units will not launch attacks on their camps.

This tricky and high-stake relationship is how Anthony became the first ever outsider to meet with LRA’s deputy chief, Vincent Otti, who was labelled a global terrorist by the International Crime Court. Their meetings went on in a secret jungle camp over several days, which were said to revolve around the rhinos and protection efforts, as well as long talks about peace.

To this day, the ceasefire agreement has collapsed after a short hiatus and an aerial survey over Garamba has confirmed the worst: the last four remaining white rhinoceros have disappeared and are presumed to be killed from poaching. Despite the failure of Anthony’s efforts in keeping this species alive, this story still remains largely inspirational as it speaks volumes of his courage and commitment to conservation, even when his own safety is threatened. It also reemphasizes the need for conservation where without such efforts, earth will soon be wiped clean of these majestic animals.