Friends pay tribute to eco warrior
"He was passionate about wildlife, when you needed someone to back you up, you could always count on John."
ENTHUSIASTIC, witty, knowledgeable, and a lover and protector of animals. There aren’t many men who were as dedicated to their work as KZN Ezemvelo wildlife honorary officer John Muller. The 76-year-old who was given the nickname ‘mkhulu’, tragically passed away two weeks ago.
More than a 150 people attended a memorial in honour of Muller at the Beachwood Mangroves nature reserve. The local resident served 48 years as a honorary officer, and started his safari with the wildlife organisation in 1966, when it was known as the KZN Parks Board.
Muller enjoyed all aspects of conservation and was well known in the birding world. He also assisted in helping out at various reserves, especially Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park and Mkuze Nature Reserve. In his time Muller assisted with marine patrols, building the
Beachwood boardwalk and working on snare patrols. Close friend and fellow KZN Ezemvelo wildlife officer, Basil Pather, said Muller’s death was a huge loss to the wildlife fraternity.
“He was a wonderful man and was always the first to report for duty. We all recognised him as one of the stalwarts, and other honorary officer strived to be more like him. He was passionate about wildlife, when you needed someone to back you up, you could always count on John.
“His experience and wealth of knowledge, motivated all staff and his grasp of Zulu and sense of humour kept the staff in stitches. I’m going to miss him so much, he was more than a friend to me and the staff, he was family. We owe him a great debt,” Pather said.
