Wrestling With Rhinos: The Adventures of a Glasgow Vet in Kenya

by Jerry Haigh, Dr Jerry Haigh

Imagine it’s 1965, and you’ve just fulfilled a boyhood ambition and graduated from the vet college in Glasgow, Scotland. The very next week you find yourself in Kenya, treating wild animals. This is what happened to Dr. Jerry Haigh, who in Wrestling with Rhinos takes us deep into the post-independence Kenya of 1965, and shows us what things were like until he left ten years later for a teaching post in Canada. Dealing with a 17 foot tall lame giraffe was an early challenge, as there had not been many giraffes in the teaching pool at Glasgow. A fall back on common sense, with the help of the owner and a knowledge of cattle medicine helped to create a cure. Along the way, he encountered traditional domestic animal patients as well as rhinos, elephants, wildebeest, lemurs and pelicans. Among them was Joy Adamson’s cheetah, and we get a first-hand glimpse of their Born Free experiences. While living in a country just making the transition from colonial status to independence, Jerry also met President Jomo Kenyatta and treated his cattle. Threaded through the text are observations ― sometimes hilarious, sometimes scurrilous, sometimes poignant ― on the social scene in Kenya, peppered with reminiscences about his soldier father, for whom the Kenya of World War II was a very different place. In the final chapters, Jerry documents his perspective on human/wildlife conflicts, and looks ahead hopefully into the future.

Genres: Africa, Nonfiction, Animals

350 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Gail Sherley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story had such potential but writing was so bad I quit the book. Felt like I was reading his diary, couldn’t connect. So I gave up.

[Marcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Haigh received a superb veterinary education in Glasgow. "As any new vet realizes, graduation is just the beginning of the process of learning your profession." A towering giraffe was Jerry's first patient when he began to practice medicine in Kenya. Not only does Jerry fully describe the problems and treatments of the animals he treats, he describes the various landscapes and organisms of Kenya with the observations and reasoning of a geographer. The reader also begins to understand a few of the ethnic cultures in Kenya.

"It was like a piece of paradise. Hundreds of head of hoofed animals. Reticulated giraffe browsing among the treetops. Herds of zebra, showing little concern for the Toyota. A huge herd of buffalo moving through the bush ahead..."

"Hundreds of birds of many species. A group of ostrich chicks running behind a dark and stately male, the female nearby. Guinea fowl clucking an rushing about as they competed for some unseen food item. A mass of moving yellow dots as we passed under a tree full of dozens of weavers, all industriously building and checking nests. A gorgeous lilac-breasted roller sitting on a tree stump by the track, the sun catching the blues on his belly and wings.
We ended up with a picnic lunch on the banks of the Tana, just below Adamson's Falls. As we sat in the generous shade of a huge old fig tree we watched a large school of about 40 hippos in the pool below the cataracts. The noises they made accompanied the sound of the rushing water. Mainly snorts as the hippos surfaced and blew to clear their nostrils, and occasionally a loud series of grunts as they expressed their feelings.
It was difficult to imagine anywhere we'd rather be."

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I've read several others by vets working on African or other exotic local wildlife, and they had wonderful tales to tell. Alas, I didn't, and here's why:

#1 Mr. Haigh tried very hard to tell his stories with dialogue, but people don't talk like this! There's way too much obviously made-up/after-the-fact dialogue, and it's so annoying it overshadows the actual facts of the story.

#2 Mr. Haigh had a thesaurus at hand, and decided rather than use "said" several times in a row, he would go through every.single.possible.label to attach to the aforementioned way-too-much dialog.

[Jennifer Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so glad I decided to pick this up for $2 from the Half Priced Books clearance shelf. This book is comprised of short stories/chapters from real stories of Dr. Haigh's experiences in Kenya. He treated everything from cattle to rhinos to elephants and portrayed every experience from a un-biased perspective. Including the culling of animals as they encroach on human space. Quick but very interesting read, highly recommended.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jerry Haigh in high-adventure mode. This is what you read when "All Creatures Great and Small" starts to seem too tame and, well, small. A veterinarian wrestling not just Rhinos, but tigers, and moose, and, well--you'll have to wait and see what else. Terrific stories terrifically well told, and worth every moment's reading.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite enjoyed this book. I can be a bit dry at times, but I enjoyed his easy writing style and learning about how things were "back then". Some cute stories for sure!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great easy and entertaining read! Reading a few pages every day brings a smile to your face especially if you have experienced Kenya and you are in the veterinary field!