[1] It is a sequel to Where No Vultures Fly (1951), from the same director and producer, and continues the adventures of game warden Bob Payton, played again by Anthony Steel.

[2][4] Where No Vultures Fly had been one of the biggest hits at the British box office in 1951 so Ealing Studios decided to make a sequel with the same star, director and producer, and again in association with the Schlesinger Organisation.

"[14] Bosley Crowther wrote in The New York Times, "it is an exciting and generally creditable picture of a contemporary aspect of East Africa.

"[15] BFI Screenonline later wrote: West of Zanzibar was designed to capitalise on its predecessor's success but the actual film, and its history with audiences, couldn't be more different.

Harry Watt... managed to maintain the fun pace, beautiful cinematography and focus on wildlife that made the first film so popular, but West of Zanzibar has one key difference: its subject.

It replaces the worthy concerns for animal welfare in Where No Vultures Fly with a more contentious humanitarian question – the displacement of rural African tribes and their participation in ivory poaching.

But it completely fudges the answer... Watt was reportedly taken aback, but the Kenyan Board's decision made explicit the film's problematic depictions of racial politics.