Tony Charles (Mashesha) Pooley (1938–2004) was a South African
naturalist, award-winning
conservationist and one of the world's foremost authorities on the
Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern, ...
.
Born in
Amanzimtoti
Amanzimtoti is a coastal town just south of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The town is well known for its warm climate and numerous beaches, and is a popular tourist destination, particularly with surfers. The annual sardine run attracts ...
,
KwaZulu-Natal, Pooley was a keen
ornithologist as a youth. He began his training as a
game ranger for the (then) Natal Parks Board in Maputaland (now northern KwaZulu-Natal, also formerly known as
Tongaland
Maputaland is a natural region of Southern Africa. It is located in the northern part of the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between Eswatini and the coast. In a wider sense it may also include the southernmost region of Mozambique. The bi ...
) in 1957, receiving much of his training as a naturalist from
Zulu and
Thonga game guards. The guards showed him a
crocodile egg and asked him to identify which bird had laid it, to general amusement, which started his interest in crocodiles. His pioneering work on crocodile ecology and conservation is recorded, with his customary humour, in his first book, ''Discoveries of a Crocodile Man'' (Collins, 1982).
Pooley published numerous papers and chapters in books on crocodile behaviour, made pioneering discoveries on crocodile maternal care, and croc-rearing techniques (see Further Reading, below). He assisted in drafting new regulations changing the status of Nile crocodiles from '
vermin
Vermin ( colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by region and enterp ...
' to 'protected', and was a founder member of the
IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group.
He travelled to Italy, Australia, America,
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, Zambia and Zimbabwe advising on crocodile conservation and farming. Several films were made about his work, including ''The Ndumu Story'', and the BBC's award-winning ''Gently Smiling Jaws'', narrated by
Sir David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
. Pooley set up two crocodile research facilities, one at
Ndumo Game Reserve
Ndumo Game Reserve is a small () South African game reserve located in the far northeast district of KwaZulu-Natal known as Maputaland. It is situated on the border with Mozambique where the Pongola River joins the Great Usutu River. It is adjacen ...
, and the
St Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...
Crocodile Research Centre, where he also set about educating visitors about crocodiles and their place in the ecosystem. He earned his MSc degree, on the "Ecology of the Nile Crocodile in Zululand", from the
University of Natal
The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...
in 1982, despite never having completed high school.
After leaving the
Natal Parks Board, he set up southern Africa's largest private
crocodile farm
A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce crocodile and alligator meat, leather from crocodile and alligator skin, and other goods. Many species of both alligators an ...
, Crocworld, near
Scottburgh
Scottburgh () is a coastal resort town located on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It situated south of the mouth of the Mpambanyoni River ''(confuser of birds).''
History
Named after Natal Colony Governor John Scott, in 186 ...
on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, which combined commercial farming with education. Thereafter he worked as a
wildlife
Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...
consultant and lectured at the
Mangosuthu Technikon. As a consultant, Pooley worked with numerous film crews from the US, UK, France, Germany, South Africa and elsewhere, including the
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...
and the
Discovery Channel. These programmes and films included special features on crocodiles, a film on the interaction of humans and
vervet monkey
The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus ''Chlorocebus''. The five distinct ...
s, and documentaries on conservation issues. His last film for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
was ''Missing - Presumed Eaten'', documenting his successful defence of the reputation of the Nile crocodile against a life-insurance scam. He also made and published records of wildlife sounds, and an album of
music.
Pooley is widely credited as being one of the leading defenders of the dunes at
World Heritage Park. He was chairman of the Campaign for St Lucia, which helped to defend the park against proposed
, and later co-ordinated a campaign preventing the deproclamation of part of the Ndumo Game Reserve. This campaign is ongoing. Tony's efforts as a conservationist were recognised by awards from
(formerly the Natal Parks Board).
Pooley's best-known publication is probably ''Mashesha - The Making of a Game Ranger'', first published by Southern Book Publishers in 1992. "Mashesha" can be basically translated from
.
Pooley died in late 2004. He is survived by his wife,
, an artist who illustrated Mashesha and has published definitive guides on South African plant life
and three sons: Simon (who also works in crocodile conservation; specifically human-wildlife conflict and coexistence), Justin (senior environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) with the IFC) and Thomas (musicologist: ethnomusicology and music cognition).
* Pooley, Tony, ''Discoveries of a Crocodile Man'' (1982) and 2nd edition 2018
* Pooley, Tony, ''Mashesha - the Making of a Game Ranger'' (1992)
* Chapters in Ross, C. A. and Garnett, S. (eds.), ''Crocodiles and Alligators'', (Facts On File, Inc., New York)
In addition to numerous scientific papers, articles in popular magazines and newspapers, and the poster ''The Tony Pooley Guide to the Nile Crocodile and other African Crocodiles'' (with John Visser) Tony also wrote ''Kwazulu/Natal Wildlife Destinations (A Guide to the Game Reserves, Resorts, Private Nature Reserves, Ranches and wildlife Areas of Kwazulu/Natal)'' with an introduction by