Product Details

• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Nat'l Geographic Vid
• VHS Release Date: July 8, 1997
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6304475551
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #356,084 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The strikingly beautiful scenery of Africa is in stark contrast to the subject matter of this National Geographic video. The black rhino is nearly extinct and the conservation effort has turned into a war. Men devote, and sometimes sacrifice, their lives to the study and preservation of this species. The Rhino War honestly and brutally examines the plight of the vulnerable rhinoceros as it is hunted for its horn, which, in powdered form, can be worth up to $7,000 on the black market. Though the sights of Zimbabwe and the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo provide an occasional peaceful respite, this video can be quite vivid and grotesque in its presentation of the rhino's fate. The poachers are painted as relentless murderers, willing to risk their lives for a few hundred dollars. The tale provides a brief ray of hope in the establishment of fenced sanctuaries and the care exhibited by the rangers for these lumbering beasts. --Zachary Lively

Product Description

In Africa, the war to save the black rhino is reaching a bitter climax. Armed poachers have swept through East Africa slaughtering the rhino for its valuable horn - bringing the animal perilously close to extinction. In an unprecedented conservation measure, Zimbabwe game rangers now guard Africa's black rhino population with the government's permission to shoot poachers on sight. Both man and beast are dying in this tragic conflict; the enemies are greed, corruption and ignorance in THE RHINO WAR.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of Despair and Hope, November 27, 2003

By 

Zachary T. Todd (Bountiful, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: National Geographic's The Rhino War [VHS] (VHS Tape)

National Geographic's "The Rhino War," is a gripping story of the intensive efforts undertaken in the late twentieth century to save the rhino in Africa. As a scientific documentary it is comprehensive and factual, but it is also undergirded by a strong appeal to the emotions and ethics of humankind. Complete with breathtaking imagery, offset by the dusty reality of modern wildlife management, the film is both beautiful and pertinent; even now, in a new century, the Black Rhino faces many of the challenges it did then. (And considering the current political situation in Zimbabwe, it isn't hard to imagine a revival of the conflict.) Nonetheless, the program offers a glimpse into a time of literal bloodshed--a time when conservation in Africa reached an unprecidented level of desperation. "The Rhino War" is moving and informative--a tribute to a magnificent animal and those willing to fight for it.