Nick Steele Books

Nicholas Arthur Steele (1933 - 1997) was a pioneer game ranger in the northern Natal province (Zululand) game reserves in the late 1950s. He was involved in the project to translocate excess white and black rhinos from the Umfolozi and Hluhluwe reserves to the rest of the world. To know more about Nick Steele's extraordinary life, read the eulogy delivered at his funeral by Ian Player.

Bushlife Of A Game Warden by Nick Steele (1979) is a riveting authoratitive account of the author's life amongst poachers, villains, adventurers, lions, rhinos, cheetahs and wild animals of every kind. He sets out are all the problems, misadventures, setbacks and triumphs of professional game wardens.

Game Ranger On Horseback by Nick Steele (1968) is about the game reserves in Zululand, the game animals, the men who guard them, the poachers who raid them and all the dramas and varied excitement of a game ranger's life.

Take A Horse To The Wilderness by Nick Steele (1971) is a part history book, part adventure story, part equestrian travel book and all round great read. This book is an extremely scare classic written by the equestrian expert and renowned mounted game ranger. Currently unavailable.

Poachers In The Hills: Norman Deane's Life In Hluhluwe Game Reserve by Nick Steele (1992) is the story of Game Warden Norman Deane's life (1925 - 1983) in the Hluhluwe Game Reserve. He bequeathed his diaries and personal papers to Nick Steele before he died. Norman Deane was the Ranger-in-charge at Mkuzi Game Reserve, Northern Zululand before he was posted to Hluhluwe Game Reserve in 1954 where he eventually rose to the rank of Senior Warden. This book is currently unavailable.

A book about Nick Steele:

Harry Wels

Securing Wilderness Landscapes In South Africa: Nick Steele, Private Wildlife Conservancies And Saving Rhinos by Harry Wels (2015) is an account of the times when private wildlife conservation was a booming business in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. Nick Steele was at the heart of this development, encouraging farmers in Natal, now KwaZulu-Natal, to pool resources to restore wilderness landscapes, but at the same time improve their security situation in cooperative conservancy structures. Nick Steele's involvement in Operation Rhino in the 1960s and subsequent networks to save the rhino from extinction, brought him into controversial, often militarily oriented, networks around the western world.

Page Updated: June 2021