Susanne Hart (1927 in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 2010) in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

), also known under the short form Sue Hart or as Susanne Harthoorn, was a South African veterinarian and environmentalist.

Biography

Born in Vienna, Austria, Susanne Widrich spent most of her childhood in England. After her graduation from Heatherton House in

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. ...

and the

Royal Veterinary College , mottoeng = Confront disease at onset , established = (became a constituent part of University of London in 1949) , endowment = £10.5 million (2021) , budget = £106.0 million (20 ...

in London in 1950 she initially worked at the

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, ...

. In the 1950s she moved to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

in South Africa where she soon married a South African named Dennis Solomon.Quarterly Poultry Bulletin, Issues 41-60. British Oil & Cake Mills Limited, 1964, p. 51 The marriage ended in divorce after a few years and Sue Hart had to raise two children on her own. Sue Hart's second husband was veterinarian

Antonie Marinus Harthoorn Antonie Marinus Harthoorn, or 'Toni' Harthoorn (August 26, 1923 - April 23, 2012) was a veterinarian and environmentalist known for his role in the development of large-animal tranquilizers and their impact on the conservation movement. Addition ...

whom she had known since college. He was notable for the development of the M-99 (etorphine hydrochloride) capture drug and its accompanying gun, the capture gun, for darting big game animals. He was known by the Swahili name Daktari (Swahili: doctor). In 1964, Sue and her husband moved to Kenya where they met

George Adamson George Alexander Graham Adamson MBE (3 February 1906 – 20 August 1989), also known as the ''Baba ya Simba'' ("Father of Lions" in Swahili), was a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and author. He and his wife, Joy, were depicted in the film ''B ...

. Adamson became Sue Hart's mentor and she learned all about handling wild animals from him. Sue Hart and Toni Harthoorn built up a wildlife orphanage which became noteworthy for its pioneering operations on cheetahs and lions, including the eye surgery on George Adamson's lion, Ugas. After Hungarian-born American television producer

Ivan Tors Ivan Tors (born Iván Törzs; June 12, 1916 – June 4, 1983) was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater sequences, and s ...

became aware of this project he was so impressed by the work of the Harthoorns that he used it as inspiration for the television film ''

Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion ''Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion'' is a 1965 light comedy-adventure film, produced by Ivan Tors, Leonard B. Kaufman, and Harry Redmond Jr., directed by Andrew Marton, and starring Marshall Thompson and Betsy Drake. The film was shot at Soledad Ca ...

'' and the series ''

Daktari ''Daktari'' ( Swahili for "doctor") is an American family drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series is an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television starring Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veter ...

''. In 1967, Susanne Hart was one of the readers in the BBC children's television series ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fairy-t ...

''. In the mid 1970s she returned to South Africa. In 1985, Hart founded and championed the non-profit organisation Ecolink which supports children who lost their parents due to

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. Dr Sue Hart died on 6 January 2010, after a stroke. Her funeral was held at Ecolink.

Filmography

*1967: ''

'' (Narrator, 5 episodes) *2007: ''The Real Daktari'' (German documentary about Sue Hart with interviews and original footage from her past)

Bibliography (selected)

:sometimes credited as Susanne Harthoorn or Sue Hart *Hart, Susanne (1966). Too Short a Day: A Woman Vet in Africa *Hart, Susanne (1969). Life with Daktari: Two Vets in East Africa *Hart, Susanne (1969). The Tame and the Wild *Hart, Susanne (1972). Listen to the Wild *Hart, Susanne (1977). Back in the Wild *Hart, Susanne (1977). Vet in the Wild (Reprint of the 1972 book Listen to the Wild). *Hart, Susanne (1987). Hold My Paw *Hart, Susanne (1995). Dr. Sue: A Vet in Africa *Hart, Susanne (2006). Tales of the Full Moon

Notes

References

Biography

External links

Ecolink
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Susanne 1927 births 2010 deaths South African veterinarians Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom British emigrants to South Africa British expatriates in the United States South African expatriates in Kenya