BACK TO AFRICA
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BACK TO AFRICA
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BACK TO AFRICA
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BACK TO AFRICA
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BACK TO AFRICA
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BACK TO AFRICA
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PERSONALITIES INVOLVED
TED & MICK REILLY
The Reilly’s are the custodians of the Back to Africa roan that came from the United Kingdom and Czech Republic.
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Ted is a legend of African conservation.The Reilly family can take the credit for what conservation in Eswatini is today. Against all odds they have created and preserved Eswatini’s big Game parks turning them into world class tourist destinations.
Ted and Mick run Big Game Parks Swaziland. Teds father was a tin miner in the Ezulwini valley during the time of the first world war. The family farm Mlilwane was the beginning of conservation in Eswatini with the young Ted Reilly stocking it with a variety of game species. Big Game Parks runs the Kings reserve Hlane as well as Mkhaya and Mlilwane and is the CITES authority in the Kingdom. Their record of rhino conservation is outstanding and well recognized globally.
Mickey his son follows in his father’s footsteps managing Big Game Parks Reserves and is actively involved in ensuring Eswatini’s animals are safe from poachers.
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IAN CRAIG OBE
Ian introduced Back to Africa to Ol Pejeta who received the Northern White Rhino’s. he worked closely on this project and has involved Back to Africa in other Kenyan conservation projects.
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Ian is a legend in Kenyan Conservation. He was brought up on Lewa Downs in the Laikipia area of Kenya. Lewa is now one of the famous Kenyan conservation success stories and an epicentre of Rhino conservation in Kenya.
He is now the conservation director for the Northern Rangelands Trust which pioneers community based conservation in Africa. He is pivotally involved in saving the highly endangered Hirola antelope in Northern Kenya at the Ishaqbini sanctuary. Ian is now a board member of the Kenya Wild Life Service conservation committee.
DR JOHN KNOWLES OBE
Passed away in 2019
John was instrumental in making roan and sable available for Back to Africa’s antelope projects. He was the founder of the Marwell Zoological Park in Winchester in the United Kingdom.
His passion for African hoofstock and his vision that zoo animals should play a role in conservation led him to facilitate antelope reintroductions in Africa. His exceptional zoological knowledge resulted in him being awarded an honorary doctorate.
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The Roan antelope, reintroduced to Eswatini , Scimitar horned oryx and the famous Przewalski's wild horse, are among the animals that have benefited from John's efforts.
MIKE PRETTEJOHN
Mike is the reason for Back to Africa’s involvement in the mountain bongo restoration process.
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Ex professional hunter turned conservationist Mike is another Kenyan legend. He presently runs the
Bongo surveillance project in Kenya and is spearheading Bongo conservation and restoration in Kenya's forests.
PREMYSL RABAS &
JAN STEJSKAL
Přemysl cooperated with Back to Africa on the transportation of the Northern White Rhinos to Ol Pejeta and helped even with the transportation of the Black Rhinos to Mkomazi.
He had served as the director of Zoopark Chomutov in the Czech Republic and later he became the director of Dvůr Králové Zoo, one of the best breeders of African ungulates outside of Africa. His passion for African wildlife led him to being a strong supporter of reintroductions from zoos to Africa and to involvement of the zoo even in other Back to Africa's conservation projects.
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Jan has been working in the field of environment and conservation for two decades, initially as a journalist focused on conservation issues and now as the Director of Communication and International Projects at Dvůr Králové Zoo. Apart from other projects, he has been coordinating the efforts to save the Northern White Rhino.
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PHOEBE PARSONS
Phoebe Parsons is a young artist from the Victorian High Country, Australia. She is currently based in Amsterdam, where she is studying at Figura Dutch Academy of Figurative Sculpture. Her childhood involved extensive periods living off-grid in remote regions of Australia, countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, which developed her deep love of wilderness and the natural world.
Phoebe has a long association with Back to Africa and was our artist in residence in the winter of 2023. She sculpted a magnificent bronze Temmincks pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) which she has generously donated to Back to Africa.
The sale of this limited edition sculpture will raise much needed funds for Back to Africa’s pioneering research into blood parasites that are relevant to the survival of stressed pangolins. While healthy pangolins can be carriers of these parasites, when stressed, the parasites cause the destruction of red blood cells, leading to life-threatening anemia. There is little knowledge about these agents and most importantly, the drugs needed to control them.
Back to Africa will receive 100% of the sale profit of these bronze pangolins. A percentage of this has been pledged to Back to Africa’s education fund towards Southern African Wildlife College in Hoedspruit. You can read more about this initiative here: https://www.backtoafrica.co.za/copy-of-leopard
Phoebe is an exciting emerging artist who has made inroads in Africa’s wildlife art scene. Her pangolin sculpture recently won ‘Best Newcomer’ in the African Wildlife Artist of the Year 2024 competition.
You can buy a limited edition bronze pangolin by making a donation of R20 000 to Back to Africa via the ‘donate now’ section of our website. We will courier it to you wherever you might be. Be sure to email backtoafrica@iafrica.com to confirm your payment and details of delivery address.
Dimensions: 125mm x 115mm x 50mm
Weight: 1kg
You can follow Phoebe’s artwork via her website: phoebeparsons.net and instagram: @phoebeparsonsart