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Soul of the Rhino: A Nepali Adventure With Kings And Elephant Drivers, Billionaires And Bureaucrats, Shamans And Scientists And The Indian Rhinoceros
Selected as one of the best books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly
In early 2006, National Public Radio reported that “A promising conservation effort to save one of Nepal’s signature endangered species is now in serious trouble, due primarily to poachers taking advantage of fighting between government forces and Maoist insurgents.” This was devastating news indeed to author and scientist Hemanta Mishra, who has spent the better part of his adult life struggling to save the Indian Rhino from extinction in his native Nepal.
The Soul of the Rhino is the spirited yet humble account of Mishra’s unique personal journey. Fresh out of university in the 1970s, Mishra embarks on his conservation work with the help of an ornery but steadfast elephant driver, the Nepalese royal family, and handfuls of like-minded scientists whose aim is to protect the animal in the foothills of the Himalayas. Yet, in spite of decades spent creating nature reserves and moving rhinos to protected areas, arm-wrestling politicians, and raising awareness for the cause, Mishra is still fearful about the future of the Indian Rhino. To this day, Nepal is overrun by armed insurgents, political violence, and poachers who could kill off this magnificent creature for good.
Filled with candor and bittersweet humor, Mishra re-creates his journey on behalf of the rhino, an ugly yet enchanting, terrifying yet delicate creature. The first book of its kind to delve into the multi-layered political labyrinths of South Asian wildlife conservation, and one man’s endurance in the face of it all, The Soul of the Rhino is sure to win over yourheart and soul.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
12 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Hemanta Mishra
6 books5 followersHemanta Mishra is a distinguished biologist and conservationist. His book The Soul of the Rhino was selected as one of the best books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly.
Mishra began his field career in 1967 with the government of Nepal. He has since worked with the Smithsonian Institute, the World Wildlife Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. He was awarded the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize.
He now lives in Vienna, Virginia with his wife Sushma.
Mishra began his field career in 1967 with the government of Nepal. He has since worked with the Smithsonian Institute, the World Wildlife Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. He was awarded the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize.
He now lives in Vienna, Virginia with his wife Sushma.
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October 10, 2012
This is a delightful and important book. Hemanta Mishra, the acclaimed conservationist who in 1973 established Nepal’s first national park, the Royal Chitwan National Park, tells the more than three decades long story of his—and his native country’s—efforts to protect the Indian rhinoceros. The rhino, a majestic and sacred animal in Nepal, was in the 1960s and 1970s facing extinction due to poaching and habitat destruction. As we know and as Mishra shows, conservation is only for a small part about biology and ecology. The success of conservation efforts is mostly determined by economic and political factors. At the heart of the threats to the rhino lie poverty and the growth of human population. Over the decades, Misha, a Western educated conservation biologist, became adept at navigating the rapidly shifting political landscape of Nepal, with its rampant corruption, and using the traditional culture to protect the rhino.
This is a very passionate book. Its value doesn’t rest in its literary aspects. Hemanta Mishra, with the assistance of his friend Jim Ottaway Jr, tells the story in a straightforward and largely chronological manner relying on illustrative anecdotes and retelling specific events that were significant. While the conversational and personal style is pleasant, the only gripe I have about this book is about some of the literary choices, as illustrated by the fact that a third of the 21 chapters start with a sentence describing the scene and the weather of the day or night in question (“It was a cool and typical Terai evening with a clear sky and a big bright December moon…” or “It was a sunny but pleasant morning…”). The value of the book is ample in many other respects. It includes valuable scientific and historical information about the rhino and its place in Nepal—however, this information is sprinkled throughout the book and in a couple of specific short chapters, so it doesn’t make the book heavy reading on the scientific front. It also provides a wealth of information about Nepali culture and society, which is essential for understanding the conservation trajectory. But most of all, it’s a highly personal account of Hemanta Mishra’s own journey from a well-off Kathmandu city boy to a passionate conservationist and a leading light in the national parks movement. I can attest to the genuineness of his feelings, as I had the pleasure and privilege of working together with and befriending Hemanta a decade ago when we both were employed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Washington, DC. Hemanta is truly committed to the welfare of wildlife and has little patience with foolish bureaucracy, although he now understands what makes it tick.
There are a number of highly emotional episodes in the book. One such is when Mishra has been charged with capturing and delivering two rhinos to Forth Worth Zoo in Texas as a present from the King of Nepal. He describes his feelings of guilt kidnapping the baby rhinos from their mothers and how he becomes attached to them over the three months he and his crew must raise them prior to shipment to the zoo. When he finally has to see the rhinos off following a ceremony at Kathmandu airport—flying first to Germany on a Lufthansa flight, then on to Texas—a teary-eyed Hemanta Mishra reflects on the workings of fate: “Fate had forced me to snatch the baby rhinos from their mothers, only to nurture and love them before finally putting them on a German aircraft for a journey of no return, across two continents to America” (p. 135).
While zoos often get a bad rap, good zoos actually play an important role in species conservation through research and captive breeding programs. Hemanta Mishra frequently recognizes the support he and the conservation movement in Nepal received from America through both agencies like USAID and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as individuals like the Texas billionaire Edward B. Bass and Ramona Bass, the chairperson of the Fort Worth Zoological Society. Early on, Hemanta also sought inspiration and good practices from Yellowstone, the world’s oldest national park.
A key segment of the book pertains to the Tarpan or traditional rhino hunt ceremony by the King of Nepal that Mishra again has to arrange. He is deeply torn by his role in organizing the killing of one rhino. He carefully chooses an old male to be sacrificed for the purposes of the ritual. The young King Birendra, highly committed to nature conservation himself (as had been his father King Mahendra), had been postponing the ritual required from all Nepali kings, but had to finally cave in to the demands from the traditionalists in his government and country. The Tarpan presents a dramatic episode in the book with genuine tension, starting with the palace intrigue around the arrangements and culminating in the hunt and the following mystical religious ceremony. In the process Hemanta comes to understand the importance of tradition in conservation and that sacrificing one rhino to the king may be very valuable in maintaining the animal’s status as sacred in the Nepali culture. He often ponders in the book about his own mind has become divided between the traditional Nepalese culture and values and those adopted from the West where he was educated as a scientist. At the end of the Tarpan, he declares: “I had found my soul in the body of a rhino” (p. 185).
In general, Hemanta Mishra gives much credit to Kings Mahendra and Birendra for their commitment to environmental protection. The reverence towards the King and the royal family in Nepal has been extremely beneficial to conservation in the country. Similarly, what Mishra realized was that he had to win the local population support for managing the national park and protecting the rhinos if the project had any chance of succeeding.
There are also many interesting and outright funny occurrences described in the book. A particularly satisfying anecdote pertains to a corrupt local politician, with private interests in illegal logging, who tried to raise the local villagers against the Royal Chitwan National Park and organized an attack against the conservation staff and their camp. When Mishra and his staff finally caught up with the man after some serious vandalism and violence, they let him taste his own medicine by first leaving the politician tied up in the forest for three hours, then dunking his head covered with a jute bag repeatedly in Rapti River, thereafter transporting him to the other side of the river and letting the man walk back to the village with his hands still tied behind his back.
Throughout the book, Mishra talks warmly about his staff, including the elephant drivers, many of whom are uneducated tribesmen from the Terai or the southern plains. He acknowledges their superior knowledge of the forest and the animals. Their humanity comes through warmly in many segments, not least those describing evenings around the campfire.
Eventually, a crowning glory and major achievement of Hemanta Mishra was the transplantation of rhinos from the Chitwan National Park to the Bardia National Park to provide them a second home. The idea had been put into his head twenty years earlier by his first chief elephant driver, Tapsi, who had proposed it in order “not to put all eggs in the same basket.” If something were to happen to the rhinos in Chitwan, at least there would be another population in Bardia where the last rhino had been shot by a “coldhearted colonial officer of the British Empire” in 1878 (p. 203).
The efforts by Mishra and his colleagues and successors were largely successful. In 1968, a rhino census (Hemanta Mishra was already then part of it) counted 90-108 animals. At the peak, around 2000, the number of rhinos had risen to about 550. On June 1, 2001, the crazed Crown Prince Dipendra shot and killed his parents, including King Birendra, and other members of the royal family. This tragic event contributed to the growing political chaos in Nepal and, consequently, to renewed bad fortunes for the rhinos.
I can imagine many Americans (and others) chuckling at the irrelevance of the topic of the book. Conservation of the rhinoceros in Nepal, a country many people here wouldn’t even have heard of, could sound as esoteric as anything. Yet, the issues raised in the book—and the lessons learned in Nepal—are very relevant indeed to environmental management and the future of our world everywhere.
The epilogue, ‘Hope or Uncertainty on a Himalayan Scale,’ outlines the situation for Nepal’s rhinos in 2008 when the book went to print. Many of the advances of the past decades had been reversed and rhinos were again poached at alarming rates. Of the 38 original rhinos moved to Bardia, only three had survived. The main reason for this sad state of affairs was the unstable situation in the country following the regicide. The insurgency by Maoist guerrillas who had terrorized the countryside and killed many of the national park guards in their fight against the government also created general conditions of lawlessness in the parks and the rest of the countryside (there have also been suspicions that the Maoists collaborated with the poachers to finance their struggle). In an additional blow, in September 2006, a helicopter accident decimated the environmental leadership in Nepal, killing three key figures—Tirtha Man Maskey, Chandra Prasad Gurung and Mingma Norbu Sherpa (Hemanta Mishra had been invited to join the trip but was unable to do so)—as well as several international supporters from WWF and partner governments (including my good acquaintance Pauli Mustonen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland).
Hemanta Mishra ends with a cautiously optimistic note. The Maoists had entered into a truce and were sharing power in government. Some high-level poachers had been arrested and prosecuted. Much was at stake for conservation in Nepal and much depended on whether the fragile peace and stability would hold and the country would find new resolve in appreciating its natural patrimony. When I last visited Nepal in November 2011, the peace was holding but the law and order situation was still weak, especially in some areas of the Terai.
This is a very passionate book. Its value doesn’t rest in its literary aspects. Hemanta Mishra, with the assistance of his friend Jim Ottaway Jr, tells the story in a straightforward and largely chronological manner relying on illustrative anecdotes and retelling specific events that were significant. While the conversational and personal style is pleasant, the only gripe I have about this book is about some of the literary choices, as illustrated by the fact that a third of the 21 chapters start with a sentence describing the scene and the weather of the day or night in question (“It was a cool and typical Terai evening with a clear sky and a big bright December moon…” or “It was a sunny but pleasant morning…”). The value of the book is ample in many other respects. It includes valuable scientific and historical information about the rhino and its place in Nepal—however, this information is sprinkled throughout the book and in a couple of specific short chapters, so it doesn’t make the book heavy reading on the scientific front. It also provides a wealth of information about Nepali culture and society, which is essential for understanding the conservation trajectory. But most of all, it’s a highly personal account of Hemanta Mishra’s own journey from a well-off Kathmandu city boy to a passionate conservationist and a leading light in the national parks movement. I can attest to the genuineness of his feelings, as I had the pleasure and privilege of working together with and befriending Hemanta a decade ago when we both were employed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Washington, DC. Hemanta is truly committed to the welfare of wildlife and has little patience with foolish bureaucracy, although he now understands what makes it tick.
There are a number of highly emotional episodes in the book. One such is when Mishra has been charged with capturing and delivering two rhinos to Forth Worth Zoo in Texas as a present from the King of Nepal. He describes his feelings of guilt kidnapping the baby rhinos from their mothers and how he becomes attached to them over the three months he and his crew must raise them prior to shipment to the zoo. When he finally has to see the rhinos off following a ceremony at Kathmandu airport—flying first to Germany on a Lufthansa flight, then on to Texas—a teary-eyed Hemanta Mishra reflects on the workings of fate: “Fate had forced me to snatch the baby rhinos from their mothers, only to nurture and love them before finally putting them on a German aircraft for a journey of no return, across two continents to America” (p. 135).
While zoos often get a bad rap, good zoos actually play an important role in species conservation through research and captive breeding programs. Hemanta Mishra frequently recognizes the support he and the conservation movement in Nepal received from America through both agencies like USAID and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as individuals like the Texas billionaire Edward B. Bass and Ramona Bass, the chairperson of the Fort Worth Zoological Society. Early on, Hemanta also sought inspiration and good practices from Yellowstone, the world’s oldest national park.
A key segment of the book pertains to the Tarpan or traditional rhino hunt ceremony by the King of Nepal that Mishra again has to arrange. He is deeply torn by his role in organizing the killing of one rhino. He carefully chooses an old male to be sacrificed for the purposes of the ritual. The young King Birendra, highly committed to nature conservation himself (as had been his father King Mahendra), had been postponing the ritual required from all Nepali kings, but had to finally cave in to the demands from the traditionalists in his government and country. The Tarpan presents a dramatic episode in the book with genuine tension, starting with the palace intrigue around the arrangements and culminating in the hunt and the following mystical religious ceremony. In the process Hemanta comes to understand the importance of tradition in conservation and that sacrificing one rhino to the king may be very valuable in maintaining the animal’s status as sacred in the Nepali culture. He often ponders in the book about his own mind has become divided between the traditional Nepalese culture and values and those adopted from the West where he was educated as a scientist. At the end of the Tarpan, he declares: “I had found my soul in the body of a rhino” (p. 185).
In general, Hemanta Mishra gives much credit to Kings Mahendra and Birendra for their commitment to environmental protection. The reverence towards the King and the royal family in Nepal has been extremely beneficial to conservation in the country. Similarly, what Mishra realized was that he had to win the local population support for managing the national park and protecting the rhinos if the project had any chance of succeeding.
There are also many interesting and outright funny occurrences described in the book. A particularly satisfying anecdote pertains to a corrupt local politician, with private interests in illegal logging, who tried to raise the local villagers against the Royal Chitwan National Park and organized an attack against the conservation staff and their camp. When Mishra and his staff finally caught up with the man after some serious vandalism and violence, they let him taste his own medicine by first leaving the politician tied up in the forest for three hours, then dunking his head covered with a jute bag repeatedly in Rapti River, thereafter transporting him to the other side of the river and letting the man walk back to the village with his hands still tied behind his back.
Throughout the book, Mishra talks warmly about his staff, including the elephant drivers, many of whom are uneducated tribesmen from the Terai or the southern plains. He acknowledges their superior knowledge of the forest and the animals. Their humanity comes through warmly in many segments, not least those describing evenings around the campfire.
Eventually, a crowning glory and major achievement of Hemanta Mishra was the transplantation of rhinos from the Chitwan National Park to the Bardia National Park to provide them a second home. The idea had been put into his head twenty years earlier by his first chief elephant driver, Tapsi, who had proposed it in order “not to put all eggs in the same basket.” If something were to happen to the rhinos in Chitwan, at least there would be another population in Bardia where the last rhino had been shot by a “coldhearted colonial officer of the British Empire” in 1878 (p. 203).
The efforts by Mishra and his colleagues and successors were largely successful. In 1968, a rhino census (Hemanta Mishra was already then part of it) counted 90-108 animals. At the peak, around 2000, the number of rhinos had risen to about 550. On June 1, 2001, the crazed Crown Prince Dipendra shot and killed his parents, including King Birendra, and other members of the royal family. This tragic event contributed to the growing political chaos in Nepal and, consequently, to renewed bad fortunes for the rhinos.
I can imagine many Americans (and others) chuckling at the irrelevance of the topic of the book. Conservation of the rhinoceros in Nepal, a country many people here wouldn’t even have heard of, could sound as esoteric as anything. Yet, the issues raised in the book—and the lessons learned in Nepal—are very relevant indeed to environmental management and the future of our world everywhere.
The epilogue, ‘Hope or Uncertainty on a Himalayan Scale,’ outlines the situation for Nepal’s rhinos in 2008 when the book went to print. Many of the advances of the past decades had been reversed and rhinos were again poached at alarming rates. Of the 38 original rhinos moved to Bardia, only three had survived. The main reason for this sad state of affairs was the unstable situation in the country following the regicide. The insurgency by Maoist guerrillas who had terrorized the countryside and killed many of the national park guards in their fight against the government also created general conditions of lawlessness in the parks and the rest of the countryside (there have also been suspicions that the Maoists collaborated with the poachers to finance their struggle). In an additional blow, in September 2006, a helicopter accident decimated the environmental leadership in Nepal, killing three key figures—Tirtha Man Maskey, Chandra Prasad Gurung and Mingma Norbu Sherpa (Hemanta Mishra had been invited to join the trip but was unable to do so)—as well as several international supporters from WWF and partner governments (including my good acquaintance Pauli Mustonen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland).
Hemanta Mishra ends with a cautiously optimistic note. The Maoists had entered into a truce and were sharing power in government. Some high-level poachers had been arrested and prosecuted. Much was at stake for conservation in Nepal and much depended on whether the fragile peace and stability would hold and the country would find new resolve in appreciating its natural patrimony. When I last visited Nepal in November 2011, the peace was holding but the law and order situation was still weak, especially in some areas of the Terai.
July 5, 2018
I like The Soul of the Rhino for a number of reasons. Foremost, I have a personal connection with Hemanta Mishra, the author. Mishra tells the fascinating story of how he personally became connected to the Asian Rhino. I found it fascinating how the writer recounts daily life in Nepal and how he had to balance the needs of the impoverished villagers with that of the needs of the rhino. Villagers and rhinos would compete in local resources, causing tension. Although this book is very focused on the topic of 'rhino conservation', I thought The Soul of the Rhino was a book I didn't waste my time reading.
Update 7/5/2018: Mishra was not only writing about the rhino, but his own soul as well.
Update 7/5/2018: Mishra was not only writing about the rhino, but his own soul as well.
April 4, 2016
It is a decent read about the protection of the rhinos in Nepal. The writer however makes claims that later contradict his own beliefs (its ok for him to get into the belly of a rhino even though he is a conservationist), takes unduly credit for actions (he tamed a rhino, yeah) and purposefully only acknowledges foreign donors. So if you take what he states with a grain of salt it is an ok read.
June 2, 2016
This author is pretentious. He clearly takes sole credit for a number of things that he did not do alone (e.g. "I trapped the rhino"). Good book however, it could stand to be less self-serving.
May 15, 2017
Pretty good intro to Chitwan. Would have liked some discussion of the ethics of using elephants for tourists.
July 7, 2023
This book teaches us a lesson on moral contradictions and the ethics of uncertain sentience. It seems like, the path to saving animals necessitates working through conflicting impulses. I admired Mr. Mishra's conservation effort (he lead the creation of the Chitwan and Sagarmatha National Parks, and the relocation of a sizeable rhino-population to Bardiya), but I wasn’t happy with the approaches he took to handle some challenges. Some parts of it (particularly having to do with separating the Rhino calves from their mothers) were upsetting. Sometimes he hinted at those decisions pricking his conscience, but his consecutive actions indicated otherwise. It was as if he was moving a heavy table to position, but not without scratching the floor! (In fact, he was moving a rhino to a pit! No, really!)
In his defense, almost everyone in positions of power was as gray as a rhino!
I read the book as if this is what it takes to make progress in our world! At the end of the day, the rhino numbers are still up in spite of all the political turmoil in the country, which is saying a lot for the groundwork that he laid out.
If you’re looking for a dreamy story on saving the rhinoceros, dream on!
In his defense, almost everyone in positions of power was as gray as a rhino!
I read the book as if this is what it takes to make progress in our world! At the end of the day, the rhino numbers are still up in spite of all the political turmoil in the country, which is saying a lot for the groundwork that he laid out.
If you’re looking for a dreamy story on saving the rhinoceros, dream on!
December 13, 2021
Chitwan National Park is one of my favorite places in Nepal. It was a pleasure to read about all that went into making the then hunting haven for elites into an exemplary conversation park in the country. The mission the author embarks on and successfully delivers on is phenomenal. However, the writing I thought was a bit off --flow and storytelling-wise. Often, while expressing his gratitude towards the then monarch, he sounded patronizing towards the Nepali royal family. At times, I felt the author was pretentious in portraying how heroic he was. Don't get me wrong, he and his team did fantastic work. And i respect them immensely. As a reader, I like authors showing me the crests and troughs of their journey as opposed to repeating every now and then, "how challenging it was" and "this was possible because of his".
All in all, this book is a great archive of the blood and sweat that went into making Chitwan the wildlife haven it is today. An additional star for the work Hemant Mishra and his team have done.
October 13, 2019
It's an interesting and informative read about rhino conservation efforts of Hemanta Mishra in Nepal, coupled with a history of this country which I recently visited. He wrote about how they 'stalk' rhinos in the jungle to study them, to help their race survive.
It's an amazing journey through the jungle with people Mishra respect so much for their knowledge of the jungle, from the elephant drivers to public officials. It was sad as well, having to kill rhinos sometimes for rituals, or having to say goodbye to them being transferred to new homes.
There are so many chaos going on in the world, but I hope the rhinos will still live on.
It's an amazing journey through the jungle with people Mishra respect so much for their knowledge of the jungle, from the elephant drivers to public officials. It was sad as well, having to kill rhinos sometimes for rituals, or having to say goodbye to them being transferred to new homes.
There are so many chaos going on in the world, but I hope the rhinos will still live on.
August 18, 2020
You learn something, you travel to a different time and culture.
November 21, 2022
Such an interesting look at the history of Chitwan and the role of the rhino in Nepal. I would definitely recommend it!
July 5, 2025
Surprisingly fantastic! An absolute page turner. Must read for anyone heading to Chitwan National Park to see rhinos. I left my copy behind at the hotel so others can enjoy.
December 6, 2012
Hemanta Mishra is a Nepali conservationist who, among other things, was part of the campaign to set up Nepals’ first national park, primarily to protect what is usually referred to as the Indian Rhinoceros, but which he refers to, for understandable nationalistic reasons, as the Asian one-horned rhinoceros.
This book is a memoir and is primarily a book about people rather than rhinos; that is, about the practicalities and politics of conservation, rather than the behaviour and habits of Rhinoceros unicornis.
So he has to deal with farmers whose crops are being damaged by rhinos; deter poachers; encourage tourism; work with bureaucrats and foreign NGOs; to learn from the practical experience of rangers and trackers; to capture rhinos for captive breeding programmes overseas; and after a brief battle with his conscience, he organises a ritualistic rhino hunt for the new king to kill a rhino for traditional symbolic purposes.
For most of the book he is telling a conservation success story; the population of rhinos in Nepal increases from about 100 to 650, including some relocated from Chitwan to a new national park elsewhere in Nepal that established a breeding population. Depressingly though, it ends with the country being thrown into chaos by the Nepalese Civil War, and poachers taking advantage of the power vacuum to kill about 270 rhinos in a few years. The book was published in 2008; as far as I can tell from a bit of quick googling, the situation has been stabilised and the rhinos are once again better protected, but it is a reminder of how fragile these populations can be.
I commented that 88 Days - A true story of Somali Pirates in the Indian Ocean was a book with interesting material, but written by someone who wasn’t primarily a writer; The Soul of the Rhino is both more interesting and better written than 88 Days, but it has something of the same quality. Mishra certainly has enough interesting stories from decades of conservation work to fill a book, and he does a solid enough job of telling them, but it doesn’t transcend the subject matter; it’s not one of those books I would recommend to people just for the quality of the writing. However, if you’re interested in conservation, or rhinos, or Nepal, you will probably find it worth reading.
The Soul of the Rhino is my book from Nepal for the Read The World challenge.
This book is a memoir and is primarily a book about people rather than rhinos; that is, about the practicalities and politics of conservation, rather than the behaviour and habits of Rhinoceros unicornis.
So he has to deal with farmers whose crops are being damaged by rhinos; deter poachers; encourage tourism; work with bureaucrats and foreign NGOs; to learn from the practical experience of rangers and trackers; to capture rhinos for captive breeding programmes overseas; and after a brief battle with his conscience, he organises a ritualistic rhino hunt for the new king to kill a rhino for traditional symbolic purposes.
For most of the book he is telling a conservation success story; the population of rhinos in Nepal increases from about 100 to 650, including some relocated from Chitwan to a new national park elsewhere in Nepal that established a breeding population. Depressingly though, it ends with the country being thrown into chaos by the Nepalese Civil War, and poachers taking advantage of the power vacuum to kill about 270 rhinos in a few years. The book was published in 2008; as far as I can tell from a bit of quick googling, the situation has been stabilised and the rhinos are once again better protected, but it is a reminder of how fragile these populations can be.
I commented that 88 Days - A true story of Somali Pirates in the Indian Ocean was a book with interesting material, but written by someone who wasn’t primarily a writer; The Soul of the Rhino is both more interesting and better written than 88 Days, but it has something of the same quality. Mishra certainly has enough interesting stories from decades of conservation work to fill a book, and he does a solid enough job of telling them, but it doesn’t transcend the subject matter; it’s not one of those books I would recommend to people just for the quality of the writing. However, if you’re interested in conservation, or rhinos, or Nepal, you will probably find it worth reading.
The Soul of the Rhino is my book from Nepal for the Read The World challenge.
July 21, 2022
A book that's been sitting in my too-read pile for too long. I've read into it just a bit, enough to encounter the notion that the King of Nepal has to kill one of these endangered animals to fulfill a religious obligation, or something. A perfect example of the blind capacity of religionism to do real damage. Pure human foolishness...
Not making a lot of progress so far in this book, as it's competing with more alluring options from the wide world of fiction. I found a picture of Jim Ottoway, Jr. in the book. He was a friend/roommate of my brother's at Exeter. I have a vague memory of him... He's listed as a sort-of lower-case "author" of the book(the one with better command of English, I suppose. Back in the 80's, when both she and Ottoway were in Nepal for different reasons, with different people, their paths crossed and after chatting awhile(in a food line) they discovered they were both friends of my brother... crazy! I've had the same thing happen to me.
- Vassar's not in upstate New York - at least I wouldn't say so.
Still reading this a chapter or two at a time. Very informative, but kind of boring. A lot of non-fiction is like that. Like vitamins...
The author seems to think that losing to local extinction various "smaller"(less important animals) is an acceptable price to pay for saving tigers and rhinos = bullcrap! The true solution would be to relocate people(that plus reducing - drastically - the human population of the whole planet) from ecologically sensitive areas and protecting those areas FOREVER! In theory this is what Wilderness Areas are in the USA.
Moving on and might finish tonight. Easy enough and interesting enough reading of an obscure story(because it takes place in Nepal).
Not making a lot of progress so far in this book, as it's competing with more alluring options from the wide world of fiction. I found a picture of Jim Ottoway, Jr. in the book. He was a friend/roommate of my brother's at Exeter. I have a vague memory of him... He's listed as a sort-of lower-case "author" of the book(the one with better command of English, I suppose. Back in the 80's, when both she and Ottoway were in Nepal for different reasons, with different people, their paths crossed and after chatting awhile(in a food line) they discovered they were both friends of my brother... crazy! I've had the same thing happen to me.
- Vassar's not in upstate New York - at least I wouldn't say so.
Still reading this a chapter or two at a time. Very informative, but kind of boring. A lot of non-fiction is like that. Like vitamins...
The author seems to think that losing to local extinction various "smaller"(less important animals) is an acceptable price to pay for saving tigers and rhinos = bullcrap! The true solution would be to relocate people(that plus reducing - drastically - the human population of the whole planet) from ecologically sensitive areas and protecting those areas FOREVER! In theory this is what Wilderness Areas are in the USA.
Moving on and might finish tonight. Easy enough and interesting enough reading of an obscure story(because it takes place in Nepal).
June 29, 2010
Hemanta Mishra has made his lifetime work the conservation of the Indian Rhino in his native Nepal. The Soul of the Rhino highlights some of the most memorable times in his career.
I have to admit that I didn't know there were rhinoceroses in Nepal. My knowledge of rhinos is limited to what I learned from countless trips to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. They have had success with the Southern White Rhino, so much so that it's the mascot of the park. The Southern White species, though, live in Africa.
So I went into The Soul of the Rhino hoping to learn about the Indian Rhino. I expected Mishra's passion to come through his memoir. As I've mentioned in other reviews of biology memoirs, I'm looking for the next Your Inner Fish.
Mishra's book didn't even come close. Instead, it's a lot like Lost Worlds by Bruce M. Beehler. The emphasis on the book is on the people Mishra has worked with, met or otherwise had to entertain as part of his mission. He spends a lot of time giggling over mistakes foreigners make while visiting.
Once again I think my disappointment in the book stems mostly from misguided expectations. The book is clearly a memoir by a scientist; it's not a science book. Unfortunately it's catalogued and shelved (at least at my library) as a biology book.
I have to admit that I didn't know there were rhinoceroses in Nepal. My knowledge of rhinos is limited to what I learned from countless trips to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. They have had success with the Southern White Rhino, so much so that it's the mascot of the park. The Southern White species, though, live in Africa.
So I went into The Soul of the Rhino hoping to learn about the Indian Rhino. I expected Mishra's passion to come through his memoir. As I've mentioned in other reviews of biology memoirs, I'm looking for the next Your Inner Fish.
Mishra's book didn't even come close. Instead, it's a lot like Lost Worlds by Bruce M. Beehler. The emphasis on the book is on the people Mishra has worked with, met or otherwise had to entertain as part of his mission. He spends a lot of time giggling over mistakes foreigners make while visiting.
Once again I think my disappointment in the book stems mostly from misguided expectations. The book is clearly a memoir by a scientist; it's not a science book. Unfortunately it's catalogued and shelved (at least at my library) as a biology book.
January 18, 2012
What the book is: An extremely interesting review of conservation efforts in Nepal, complete with political intrigue and culture clash between western-trained scientists and local communities. Also, somewhat surprisingly, the book provides interesting insight into the use of tamed elephants (and elephant drivers) for the rhino conservation effort.
What the book is not: A description of what rhinos are like, how they spend their time, or what makes them interesting animals.
I very much enjoyed reading about the conservation movement in Nepal and the author's experiences over several decades of work on rhino study, conservation, and relocation. Still, I was sad that there wasn't more description of what wild rhinos are like, what their social structure is, why the author loves them so much (and love them he clearly does--even describing having connected deeply with the soul of the rhino), or more about their behavior in the wild. There were descriptions of the reactions of the rhinos to capture (e.g., for relocation purposes), but very little discussion of their natural behaviors.
The book ends around mid-2007, just as the political situation in Nepal is very uncertain and unstable. I'd love to read a follow-up essay about what's happening now.
What the book is not: A description of what rhinos are like, how they spend their time, or what makes them interesting animals.
I very much enjoyed reading about the conservation movement in Nepal and the author's experiences over several decades of work on rhino study, conservation, and relocation. Still, I was sad that there wasn't more description of what wild rhinos are like, what their social structure is, why the author loves them so much (and love them he clearly does--even describing having connected deeply with the soul of the rhino), or more about their behavior in the wild. There were descriptions of the reactions of the rhinos to capture (e.g., for relocation purposes), but very little discussion of their natural behaviors.
The book ends around mid-2007, just as the political situation in Nepal is very uncertain and unstable. I'd love to read a follow-up essay about what's happening now.
January 12, 2014
Even though I like wildlife and was in Nepal at the time, I couldn't read this. I just hated spending time with the author, although it was an interesting portrait of a certain kind of man.
If this sentence does not sound alarm bells in several different ways, then you may be able to concentrate on what he says about wildlife.
'But,' said Upreti, with a mischievous grin on his triangular face, 'like everything in Nepal, there is a short cut. If we can get a blessing from King Birendra, the rest is merely rubber stamps.'
I couldn't, and I gave up at the point where he first mentioned his wife because I was so disgusted by his attitude to her.
If this sentence does not sound alarm bells in several different ways, then you may be able to concentrate on what he says about wildlife.
'But,' said Upreti, with a mischievous grin on his triangular face, 'like everything in Nepal, there is a short cut. If we can get a blessing from King Birendra, the rest is merely rubber stamps.'
I couldn't, and I gave up at the point where he first mentioned his wife because I was so disgusted by his attitude to her.
August 6, 2016
An easy reading book that transports you into the world of Nepali Monarchy and how a few people came together to save the Asian one-horned Rhino from the brink of extinction in Nepal. An autobiography of sorts which covers Hemanta Mishra's journey over a lifetime of establishing the Chitwan National Park as well as the Bardia National Park in later days. It brings home how precarious the situation was, and how religion can be used in the service of conservation when thought through intelligently. Almost inadvertently, Hemanta Mishra also gives us several glimpses into the Nepali elite and monarchy that reigned supreme during that time.
March 10, 2008
Not a book with universal appeal, but a good read for those interested in Nepal, wildlife conservation, or both. The author spent decades working to protect the Nepalese Rhino (aka the Indian Rhino) and was responsible for establishing one of the first national parks in Asia.
This is his on-the ground account of those years and the conservation lessons that he learned. He doesn't skip the gross stuff, describing in detail the Tarpan, a dark ritual that required the King to hunt and kill one of these rare, magnificent creatures.
This is his on-the ground account of those years and the conservation lessons that he learned. He doesn't skip the gross stuff, describing in detail the Tarpan, a dark ritual that required the King to hunt and kill one of these rare, magnificent creatures.
September 29, 2010
I enjoyed reading about rhinos as well as traditional and modern Nepal and role of the rhinos in Nepalese culture, religion.
The end of the book is quite disturbing considering new political climate provoked by shocking assassination of the royal family by their own member. That has had a domino effect on all aspects of the society and under such circumstances there's no much space for conservation problems.
The end of the book is quite disturbing considering new political climate provoked by shocking assassination of the royal family by their own member. That has had a domino effect on all aspects of the society and under such circumstances there's no much space for conservation problems.
April 11, 2009
I have never even heard of this book until I found it on the bookshelf at the little store inside of the hotel on my weekend getaway. I know to always check out some of the books that this particular woman orders - it is usually good and they are not usually the popular ones that I see at work at the library. I loved it and now want to go and see the rhino's :)
June 14, 2010
This book is chock-full of wonderful information about rhinos, Nepalese, modern history of Nepal, and wildlife conservation. The information comes wrapped in Hemanta Mishra's stories of his experiences with rhinos in Chitwan National Park told with passion, humor and presence.
Occasionally the book is repetitive and dis-jointed.
Occasionally the book is repetitive and dis-jointed.
April 8, 2015
I would say that this story was very good, on the contrary there were some moments where I did not like it as much. His personal experience with all the rhinoceros was very interesting and fun to read about, but sometimes he includes moments that aren't very appropriate for the current situation. But overall this was a very good read and I would recommend it to my friends.
June 25, 2012
This is such an interesting book. It provides such a great history of rhinos, conservation and Nepal. In addition, it is an adventurous story. The only thing I wish is that the success we saw could continue by education and a more peaceful Nepal.
June 4, 2016
An interesting read about how a person dreamt about conservation of rhinos in his country, and his ordeal and persistence about making it into a reality.
It's a great read, with interesting linkages between traditionalism and modernism.
It's a great read, with interesting linkages between traditionalism and modernism.
July 23, 2008
non-fiction,Nepal,Chitwan National Park,Himalayan,Hindu,Buddhist,wildlife conservation,endangered
February 10, 2009
I am eager to go to Chitwan National Park in Nepal and see the rhinos.
February 10, 2011
A must read for anyone looking to acquire a rhino!
November 5, 2015
A really interesting read of the work done by Hemanta Mishra in saving the endangered Nepalese rhino and the establishment of the Chitwan National Park.
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