Game Capture

 Chemical Darting is fun!

On 01 May 2012 we had to dart a few Impala ewes that had to be transferred to one of the farmers farm.

We went into the felt at 10am to start darting. First we drove around trying to locate the ewes in an area that would be easy to dart and move them. When we found them, we set up everything. The transport trailer into which we had to move the Impala after darting them, was parked under a tree in the shade to keep it cool.

Transporting trailer

 

The procedure to follow was, when the ewe was darted with A3080, we would track her with the tracking device placed in the dart to the place where she finally fell down.

When we got to her, the first thing to do was place her in Sternal ( lying on her stomach with her feet folded in underneath her), lifting her head up and pulling the tongue out. Someone had to monitor her to make sure she is still breathing and that her breathing was normal.

 

 

Moira or Jeanine would then tag the ear with a specific number tag and use the tag gun. The ewe had to be tagged in her left year and they had to watch out for the veins so that they don’t push the tag through the veins.

While they were busy tagging the ear, I would inject the ewe with Vitamin BCo, Vitamine ease and Dectomax.

We would then load her onto the stretcher and onto the back of the bakkie, still monitoring her, and then move her to the transport trailer. Once the ewe was loaded into the trailer I would inject her with M5050 that was the antidote to reverse the sedative.

After all the Impalas that we darted were loaded into the trailer, we went to the Wild Life Center to load the Impala that was caught the previous day into the trailer.

They parked the trailer at the front of the crush and lifted the ramp to the level of the trailer to make it easier for the Impala’s to get into the trailer and so that they don’t trip when trying to get from the crush into the trailer.

 All and all it was a very fun, yet hot and exhausting day!!

Owl getting injured

One of the most common accidents we get involving owls is that the get stuck in electric fences or normal fences while their hunting. They fly into the fences and get their wings stuck which usually results in them spinning and getting caught in the fences.
If they had no prior experience with such fences(i .e.,birds of the year or ones
raised in areas lacking fences), they might simply have perceived the fences as movable
vegetation which would have caused in significant disruption to their flight.
The owls that collided with power lines must have done so under different circumstances.
The power lines were higher in the air, and a hunting owl would probably have been flying
closer to the ground, thus avoiding them. The owls may have been flying to a hunting post,
possibly the power line itself or its supporting pole, and somehow collided with the line.
They possibly were forced into the line by a gust of wind.

"Mossie", The Verreaux Eagle Owl

When this happens we try to help these animals in what ever way we can, but it still happens that these owls wings have to be amputated. That's where our one sanctuary owl-"Mossie" comes from. She was caught in a power line and they had to amputate her wing.

Bandaged wing of a Barn Owl. The left wing got hurt but we had to bandage the wing closely to the body because it was to heavy with the splint attached to it.

Here's the owl before we bandaged the wing. You can see that the left wing is hanging and the owl is not using the wing or keeping it close to his body.

We got this one Barn Owl in from a farmer, the owl had a broken wing. This probably resulted also from colliding with a wire. We bandaged the wing and placed a splint in to keep the wing from bending or getting hurt even more.

CLASS TIME

To work with the animals and enjoy all the fun stuff, the students need to have class as well. The first years have 5 unit standards to cover. They consist of Animal care,Feeding, Cleaning and Maintain, Ecology and Pant care. In the 4and a half weeks that they spend at the Wild life Center we have to cover all this work and do field assessments with them.

First years busy with class

Field assessments is where they are being assessed while doing the work. They get marked on things like the way they prepare the food for all the animals, that they prepare the food in the right way and cut the food in the right sizes to suit the animals, they also have to be able to explain why they do it a certain way etc.

It sound easier than it is to cover the work because it has to be done between the physical work that we're doing here at the Wild life Center.
This physical work consists out of feeding, cleaning and maintaining the cages etc. around the WLC.

Birds in our Aviary

In our Aviary we have a lot of different birds. They came from other Aviaries for the viewing pleasures of guests. There's Pearl spotted owls that is one of Southern Africa's smallest owl species. They are active by daylight.

The people that brought them in found them on the ground and thought they were hurt, but this is normal behavior for these owls to walk on the ground because they eat small insects etc.

They are in a big enclosure where they can fly around and they can still search for their own food in aviary, even though we give them food.

These owls feed on a variety of prey on arthropods, insects, bats and small rodents and they are an endangered animals specie.  

The variety of birds in the Aviary are:

•Bearded Barbet’s

•Violet Turaco

•Hartlaub’s turaco

•Blue Bellied Roler

•Splendid Glossy Starling’s

•White Bellied Go-away bird 

White tailed Jay 

Bearded Barbet

Violet Turaco

Hartlaub’s turaco

White tailed Jay 

Blue Bellied Roler

White Bellied Go-away bird

Splendid Glossy Starling