Lawrence Anthony was a South African conservationist, environmentalist, explorer, and bestselling author. He was the long-standing head of conservation at the Thula Thula animal reserve in Zululand, South Africa, and the Founder of The Earth Organization, a privately registered, independent, international conservation and environmental group.

Anthony was renowned for his bold conservation initiatives, such as the rescue of the Baghdad Zoo during the US-led Coalition invasion of Iraq in 2003, and his negotiations with the Lord's Resistance Army rebel army in Southern Sudan to protect endangered species, including the last of the Northern White Rhinoceros.

His conservation efforts were widely covered in media outlets such as CNN, CBS, BBC, Al Jazeera and Sky TV, and featured in publications like Reader's Digest, Smithsonian, Explorers Journal, Africa Geographic, Men's Journal, Shape Magazine, and Elle Magazine.

Anthony passed away from a heart attack at the age of 61, shortly before a planned conservation gala dinner in March 2012 in Durban. This event was intended to raise international awareness for the rhino-poaching crisis and to launch his new book, The Last Rhinos: My Battle to Save One of the World's Greatest Creatures. After his death, reports indicated that some of the elephants he had worked to save came to his family's home, mourning in their traditional manner.