Building the rhino holding boma – to the far right is Dick Pitman familiarising himself with the cine camera. John White
Below: Rowan Martin and Ron van Heerden preparing darts. John White
423
CHAPTER 9: RESEARCH & SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT
in the idea from the beginning; both were marketing wizards and Ingrid had much to do with marketing the safari in the States. To follow this through, a two-week darting safari for the ‘big five’ was auctioned at the SCI (Safari Club International) Reno Convention early in ’82, the successful bidder being Erv Nutter from Dayton Ohio; he brought with him his wife Zoe Dell and friends Jack and Anne Green. Mana Pools, with its wide range of game, including the big five, and on-going monitoring programs, was the area chosen to ‘host’ the Safari. With the Zambezi River and a backdrop of the Zambian escarpment the setting was ideal. First on the ground that year in August were the ‘advance party’ of John and Tara White - Tara i/c cookhouse/catering and camp organisation - plus Richard Simpson and Provincial Warden Ron van Heerden; Jaycelle van Heerden came in with her double bed later, when the camp was set up! The site chosen was the old Mana Tree Lodge, which was secluded, away from tourists and where some infrastructure remained. Others on the team - Clem Coetsee and Rowan Martin, classed by John White as the ‘technocrats’ - would oversee the darting and collaring, Graham Hall with his Super Cub to fly reconnaissance flights and Dick Pitman, the newly appointed Interpretive Officer, was given the responsibility of ‘cameraman.’ Andy Cousins, Warden Mana, together with his rangers and scouts, assisted where necessary; the last of the locals was Ecologist Clive Swanepoel, also new his baptism into the thought-provoking world of research was vastly different to anything envisaged – he’d be collecting scientific data. Ingrid Schroeder, a key player in getting the operation off the ground as