Rita Miljo | |
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| Born | Rita Neumann 18 February 1931 Heilsberg, East Prussia, Germany |
| Died | 27 July 2012 (aged 81) Limpopo Province, South Africa |
| Occupation(s) | Animal rights activist and conservator |
Rita Miljo (née Neumann; 18 February 1931 – 27 July 2012) was a South African conservationist and animal rights pioneer noted for founding and managing the "Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education" (CARE) near Phalaborwa in South Africa. Born in East Prussia shortly before World War II began, she had dreams from an early age of becoming a veterinarian. When the war broke out, she became involved in the girls' wing of the Hitler Youth, but quit when her father no longer supported the Nazis. After a brief stint studying psychology in university, she worked in a factory and then at the Hagenbeck Zoo.
When her fiance moved to Johannesburg, Neumann followed him there and they married. Initially, Miljo worked in an office, but spent her weekends studying animals in the Kruger National Park. She bought a 50-acre parcel of land in Limpopo Province on the banks of the Olifants River in 1963. In 1980, she rescued an orphaned female baboon and became determined to establish a wildlife sanctuary for animals on her property. In 1989, she founded CARE, and developed a system to rehabilitate injured and orphaned animals so that they could be reintroduced to the wild. Because of her lack of training, her work initially was viewed by scientists with scepticism, but she came to be regarded as an expert in baboon care. Miljo died in a fire on the CARE property in 2012. Her life and work have been commemorated in several movies, television programmes, and a book.