Anthony Raymond Fitzjohn, OBE (7 July 1945 – 23 May 2022) was a British conservationist who worked extensively with George Adamson at Kora in Africa. In recognition of his service to wildlife conservation, Fitzjohn was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2006.

Biography

Fitzjohn was born on 7 July 1945 and was adopted as an infant by Hilda and Leslie Fitzjohn. He was raised in Cockfosters, a suburb of North London, and was educated at Mill Hill School, a boarding school also in North London. After a brief career with Express Dairies, he left for South Africa in 1968 and then for Kenya, where he worked at an outdoor pursuits centre near Mount Kilimanjaro. In 1971, he found work with the conservationist George Adamson, remaining with him for 18 years at the Adamson's camp in the Kora National Reserve, managing the camp and reintroducing big cats into the wild. After Adamson's death in 1989, Fitzjohn moved to Tanzania to manage the Mkomazi Game Reserve. He married Lucy Mellotte in 1997, with whom he had four children, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 in recognition of his service to wildlife conservation. In 2019, he returned to the Kora National Reserve in Kenya. He died of cancer on 23 May 2022, at the age of 76.

Awards

2016 – Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award presented jointly by the Prague Society for International Cooperation and Global Panel Foundation.

Films