Farm owner with his Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs. Although bred to hunt lions, these particular dogs were far more interested in having their rumps scratched.
Pulling into the farmyard surrounding the house, we were greeted immediately by 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks and a black mutt with a blue eye, all barking at the tops of their voices. This was the first house I saw in South Africa that was 2 stories tall; all of the other houses I've seen have been single story. As is typical at these game farms, there is an outer fence, then an inner fence to keep the wildlife away from the house; apparently elephants, etc can be quite hard on a house! The owners of the farm, a nice couple, met us and explained our tasks. Once again, we left the van parked in the yard and hopped into the bed of the farm pickup. A short say up the road (short being relative, about 1/2 mile or so) we approached another fence and gate. Inside was a beautiful new doma, large and with multiple squeeze points to allow animals to be moved in and out easily. Inside was a single nyala bull, looking a bit thin. He was there to regain some weight and condition; if he continued to be weaker than the other bulls, he would almost certainly be killed by them. We decided that he should stay there a bit longer, and not be stressed any more than necessary until he was healthier.
Thin bull nyala isolated in the doma for additional nutrition.
Much of these animals' economic value lies in their horns; hunters will pay tens of thousands of dollars to take a trophy with large horns. Although this seems ironic, hunting is responsible for the preservation of the species: Since the animals now have monetary value, landowners can afford to keep them and invest in their health and welfare.
Driving on through the doma, we found a large herd of bull nyala happily eating hay from feeders nearby. Since it is winter here, the owner has been supplementing their forage with hay, and the bulls are used to coming up to eat and to being quite near humans. However, they are still 300-500 pound bulls, with what are essentially swords mounted on their heads, so they are dangerous! We always work with one eye toward what they are doing, and the game workers are always armed. Rita loaded 5 darts with the necessary combination of drugs, and gave us the other supplies we would need: Due to the cold, damp weather today (58 and misting), there was a concern about pneumonia when tranquilizing these animals since this is a very low temperature for them. So in addition to the deworming injection, they were to receive antibiotics, a vitamin preparation, and an IV dose of a drug to partially counteract what they received in the dart, and another IV injection to provide mild sedation for their trailer ride. Once in the trailer and finished, each would receive a final injection to counteract the other sedative effects and be allowed to recover.
Group of nyala bulls in the feeding area. Each is identified with a cattle ear tag, so the individual animal can be identified and selected. This is vitally important in a breeding operation.
Nyala bull has been darted and tranquilized and unloaded from the truck preparatory to being treated and loaded into the trailer for transport.
The owner pointed out the first bull to Rita, and she quietly strolled toward it. When she felt she was well positioned, she fired and placed the dart perfectly over the shoulder blade. The owner and his hired man immediately began to follow the darted bull as he ran off; if he were to fall near other bulls, they would kill him almost instantly. Everyone disappeared behind a small clump of trees, and a few seconds later the owner and hand emerged, one holding each horn of the bull, trotting him up the track towards us. They preferred to have him move toward the trailer under his own power if possible; safer and easier than having to carry him or put him on the truck.
Once beside the trailer, the work began. He received his antibiotic, anti-parasite, and vitamin injections, partial sedation reversal and sedative injections. His horns were measured, stripes counted, teeth examined to determine age and checked for ear tag and microchip for identification. Hair was plucked from his tail for DNA analysis identification. Identification of individual animals is vital since this bull is part of a breeding program. Finally, the owner placed heat-shrink plastic caps over the tips of his horns, to protect the other bulls from being injured as they acclimated to their new home; these would wear off in time, and also protect the valuable horns themselves. Then 4 people lifted him onto the trailer, a topical tick treatment was applied, and the final reversal agent was injected. As soon as he was holding his head up on his own, he was allowed to awaken quietly in his own compartment in the trailer.
Tranquilized nyala riding in the truck back to the treatment area.
It is vital to control the horns, as he could partially awaken and injure someone or break a horn.
Making an IV injection into an ear vein to administer a sedative for travel
Placing a microchip, the size of a grain of rice, under the skin below the base of the left ear. This provides permanent identification of the animal.
This basic procedure was repeated 4 more times, with the bulls either being "escorted" to the trailer, or lifted onto the bed of the pickup and driven back. As you will see in the video, students quickly mastered the various tasks and performed them with precision.
As we finished the 4th bull, Rita the vet received a call about an injured nyala about an hour away. The owner texted a photo of a wound on the side of a young bull with some pink, fleshy material protruding from it. He wanted to know whether she thought it could be repaired or whether he should shoot him. From the photo, we were unable to tell whether the wound was in the thoracic or abdominal cavities, or what was sticking out. Between owner and vet, they decided that we would go have a look as soon as we were done loading these. Fortunately the final bull went fairly smoothly, as the injured animal was about an hour away.
On the way, the terrain gradually changed from the red soil, scrub, rocks and trees that we had become used to, to agricultural land. Here all was green, and we saw huge orchards of mango, orange, and grapefruit trees. As we approached the mountainside, banana groves appeared. The early start and warm van apparently lulled all of the students to sleep; they awoke into a world looking vastly different from that in which they fell asleep!
The Sound of Silence
We arrived following Rita's truck, and were confused to drive into a prosperous-looking gated suburb lined with citrus trees and green lawns. Pulling into the drive for a large, lovely house, we could see a fenced area beside the house lined with the electric fencing we had come to associate with the presence of wildlife. The owner met us, and led us through a smaller gate into a spacious orchard, in which apparently the nyala acted as lawn mowers. Once again, Rita hit her target with a single shot, and we brought the animal into the garage to work on where it was dry.
After examining the wound, it appeared that it was quite clean, relatively fresh, and that only some muscle and peritoneum were protruding. The wound did not penetrate the diaphragm or chest cavity, so it appeared likely that it could be repaired. We disinfected the hair and shaved around the wound (no handy electric clippers for a mobile wildlife vet; an old fashioned razor blade was called into play.) Once the protruding tissue, about the size of my fist, was flushed with sterile saline, we were able to push it back into the animal. We extended the wound in the skin to be able to reach the muscle layer underneath, and closed 2 layers of muscle to prevent a hernia from forming. Then the wound was rinsed again, penicillin placed in the wound, and the skin sutured closed, leaving a small opening at the bottom for infected fluid to drain out. We gave him an antibiotic injection, carried him out to an area of the pen where he could be protected from the other bull, who we suspected caused the injury in the first place, while he recovered.
The initial wound was between 2 ribs near where the abdomen joins the chest
We checked to make sure that the tissue was alive and in good shape (it was) and that the wound did not extend into the chest (it didn't)
Cleaning the wound area with disinfectant surgical scrub and pushing it back into the animal's abdomen
Muscle layers closed
Checking the extent of the internal wound
(I had my finger inside a nyala! I couldn't have identified a nyala a week ago!!!)
Muscle closure complete
And skin closed, with a hole left at the bottom for drainage, so the wound won't abscess
A short way back down the road, we came to the Predator Encounter. This was a tourist attraction in conjunction with a hotel and restaurant. We paid about $14 admission and met a guide at the gate. He led us through the gate into the animal area. We followed him along a narrow brick pathway between rows of outdoor pens and cages. We quickly came to a white tiger cub about 12 weeks old, who immediately came up to the front of the cage and meowed at us. The guide unlocked the next cage over, and we followed him inside. There we met 4 8-week old lion cubs! They were absolutely adorable, and we were encouraged to hold them and interact with them. My first thought, of course, was to be overcome by their cuteness. But almost immediately I recognized the smell of bottle-raised kittens on these cubs. They were bred, born, and removed from their mother to be hand-raised for the specific purpose of providing entertainment to tourists. And of course, cute little cubs grow up. The guide didn't answer us when we asked what they did with them when they matured, but we soon got an idea about that.
White lion cub
Next we went into the caracol enclosure. If you remember our photos with Savannah the caracol 2 days ago, they look like large lynx-y cats. There were 6 of these in a cage about the size of a large living room, and the guide picked them up and handed them to us. They tolerated this, but I put mine down when she took a couple of good swipes at my glasses, which are new and all too close to my face!
Aloof female caracol observing our handling
Our next stop was the honey badger. He was hiding in a piece of culvert, but was brought out for us to hold. He tolerated the first couple of us, then became fascinated with Brooklyn's pouch and happily worked on getting it open. He was obviously very smart and quick, and the front nails on him were amazing!
Our last close-up interaction was with large juvenile lions. And when I say large, I am not kidding! These guys were huge! The guide walked up to the male, showed us where he liked to be scratched, and had us pose for pictures. Meanwhile, one of the females approached and began rolling on her back and soliciting attention. She appeared to like her cheeks and chin rubbed, but quickly moved on to trying to use her forepaws to grab one's hand and bring it to her mouth. She never attempted to bite, but we admired from a slightly greater distance.
When we finished with the lions, the guide told us to enjoy seeing the rest of the animals, escorted us out of the cage, and disappeared. We walked around and saw many, many predators. Unfortunately, they were crowded into small cages and runs, with up to 5 animals in each space, and little attempt made to re-create a natural environment. In addition to lions, of which there were literally dozens, there were tigers (not even an African native!), white tigers (a pair, in a cage smaller than half of a cheap hotel room!), ferrets, iguanas, a macaw, and more caracols. Although the animals appeared fairly healthy, many were exhibiting stereotypical behaviors stemming from their small quarters, overcrowding and lack of enrichment. We didn't spend a great deal of time with them, choosing to return to the entrance to meet back up with Jessica, who had made a grocery run in the meantime. While waiting, several hungry students went into the cafe and found out what one got when one ordered a toasty with chips (grilled cheese with fries).
On the way back to our accommodations, we had quite a discussion about the animals we had just seen. All of the students expressed concern about the inadequate housing and overcrowding of the animals. All also confessed that they had really enjoyed interacting directly with these species, although some felt guilty about supporting this business. Other ideas included wondering whether the captive and hand-rearing program would eventually yield a truly domestic big cat, whether interaction with the public was in itself enough enrichment, and speculation as to the fate of the grown-up hand-reared cubs. Although we did not reach any definite conclusion, it gave rich grounds for thinking about animal education, conservation, preservation, and welfare. I am really appreciating hearing the students as they gain more and more insight into these difficult and nuanced issues!
I will add tons more photos to this tomorrow. They are taking forever to download from my phone, and it is after 10:00 pm, and I'm tired!
Tomorrow we are to work with antelope here on the farm where we are staying, then spend the afternoon on horseback safari! We are excited! Again!
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