In a nine-hour operation at the reserve yesterday, the three rhino, two males and a female, were darted separately, had holes drilled into their horns, and poison injected into them.

Inverdoorn owner Damian Vergnaud hopes this will deter poachers, who have begun targeting Western Cape rhino.

The poison will not kill, but is designed to make anyone who consumes the ground-up horn feel sick. Most poached horn is smuggled into Asia where it fetches sky-high prices in the traditional medicine trade, although it has no proven medicinal qualities.

The horns were also injected with a bright-red dye that effectively defaced their interior, making them unusable as dagger handles or other ornamentation. Rhino horn has been used, particularly in Yemen, for dagger handles. The dye and poison combination was developed by Denel and has been designed to bind with keratin, the substance horn, hair and nails are made of.

The third part of the anti-poaching cocktail was barium, injected into smaller holes, which will show up on X-rays if the horns are smuggled through airport security.

Inverdoorn owner Damian Vergnaud, who was present throughout the operations that began before dawn yesterday, said yesterday: “I wanted to destroy the market value of the horns, and I hope other game reserve owners will follow what we’ve done. That way we can destroy rhino horn as a product. I think it will work if many people do it. I want everyone to know that we have done this to the horns.”

Wildlife vet and consultant Alex Lewis flew from Hoedspruit to do the operation, assisted by Ceres vet Mark Walton. “When poachers attacked the rhino at Aquila, I thought it might be a one-off, but we increased security. Then when Fairy Glen was attacked we took it very seriously. But I don’t have the funds for this level of anti-poaching.” He contacted Lewis, who has spent a week at Inverdoorn discussing options which included cutting off and burning the horns and inserting tracking devices in them. Eventually, he decided on the dye and poison option.

They made a wooden horn replica and experimented with injecting the cocktail.

They also made a circular metal device, which screws on to the horn and allows the dye to be pumped in under pressure, so that it penetrates the horn.

Around noon, the vets and rangers headed out to search for the male.

Lewis and ranger Gert Bobbeje tracked it and darted the animal.

The Cape Times followed and saw the rhino “high-stepping” as the drug took effect, and then it sank to its feet. As soon as it was down rangers tied a blanket around its eyes to protect them and reduce stress. While some trickled water over it to keep it cool, others off-loaded the small generator to power Lewis’s drill.

He measured the horn, started the generator and used a grinder to flatten a section. The air was filled with the smell of diesel and burning hair. When he used the drill to bore a large hole into the horn, little white flakes spun off and fell into the dust like flakes of dried coconut. Then he attached the metal circle around the horn and put the nozzle of the pump through a hole in the metal. Bobbeje then pumped the dye-poison mix into the horn.

Meanwhile, Walton took blood samples and then drilled smaller holes to inject a combination of glue and barium, which shows up on X-ray. Then they filled the holes with glue, and bound the horn in tape to allow the glue to dry. The rhino will rub the tape off eventually.

The operation took about 40 minutes. Lewis gave the animal the antidote to the immobilising drug, everyone got on the vehicles, and the bull stood up. It looked a little whoozy, but then trotted off.

Two rhinos were dehorned at Aquila Game Reserve in August, one of which died. Two were dehorned at Fairy Glen, near Worcester, two weeks ago. The male is still on the danger list. – Cape Times

Sourced for ecoAfrica Travel via IOL News

Click on the photo to view the encounter on YouTube

Touched by a Wild Mountain Gorilla

The Masai Mara has lost more than two-thirds of its wildlife over the past three decades, according to scientists. The numbers are worrying. Impala, warthog, giraffe, tipi and kongoni have declined by more than 70%. The great wildebeest migration now involves 64% fewer animals than in the early 1980s and the resident wildebeest population has fallen by 97%.

A study published in 2009 already indicated populations of some large mammals were declining but this study was based on research of only seven species over a 15-year period. Scientists have now looked at data of 12 species of large mammals from aerial monitoring since 1977.

Kari Mutu, Sales Manager Great Plains Conservation, says there has definitely been a decline in wildlife. She mentions the major reasons for this include drought, population pressure, tourism overdevelopment and political mismanagement.

Tourism overdevelopment is a worrying factor, says Mutu. “Fifty years ago there was one lodge, now there are 150 camps and lodges with more being licensed. Visitor numbers are increasing year on year. Experts agree this is having an adverse effect on the environment, and it’s certainly impacting the natural behaviour of wildlife in terms of feeding, hunting and birthing.”

Mutu explains political mismanagement is another important factor. “A management plan was formulated many years ago with good recommendations for wildlife management, environmental conservation and tourism development. But the plan has not been endorsed, and this remains a major stumbling block in securing the long-term survival of the game reserve.”

The declining number of wildlife could spell the end of the hugely popular wildebeest migration, according to scientists. Mutu admits: “It is entirely possible that the migration could end. After all, millions of animals don’t trek through hundreds of miles for the sheer joy of it but to survive. If the Mara ecosystem dies off, so then will thousands of herbivores and the predators that rely on them.”

Jake Grieves-Cook, MD Gamewatchers Safaris, says we should look at the numbers in perspective though. He explains the decline refers to the entire Mara eco-system and not just the Mara Reserve. He says: “Within the whole eco-system, there has been habitat loss due to human settlement and farming in some areas which are no longer available for wildlife, so in those areas the numbers have fallen by up to 100% but in other areas numbers have increased.”

Both Mutu and Grieves-Cook say there is light at the end of the tunnel. They say the conservancies in the area are reversing the declining wildlife trend. Conservancies are under the ownership and management of private individuals or non-state organisations. The conservancies operate high quality, low-volume tourism to ensure minimal impact on the environment. Mutu says: “Most of the Mara conservancies are less than 10 years old but are already showing great results. Olare Orok Conservancy, for example, now has one of the highest densities of big cats in Kenya.”

Sandy Wood, MD Pulse Africa, is optimistic about the future of the Masai Mara. She says the declining wildlife has not impacted on tourism so far and says the rhino population is even on the increase. “The end of the Masai Mara – I don’t think so.”

Sourced via Tourism Update for ecoAfrica Travel.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, SANParks, CEO, Dr David Mabunda said: “This will certainly go a long way in changing the trend of suspects found in possession of rhino horn only being charged with possession as the horns in their possession can now be linked to a carcass lying somewhere in a national park or game reserve.”

According to Dr Mabunda the kits would also assist rhino managers with individual rhino in their care.

The project is supported by a number of private sector companies, including SAB Miller, BMW, 702 Talk Radio through its LeadSA Campaign and the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science.

According to Dr Cindy Harper, Head of Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, at the University of Pretoria, the ability to obtain a full DNA profile from rhino horn allows us to match recovered horns to specific poaching incidents.

Sourced via Tourism Update Online for ecoAfrica Travel

Mossel Bay’s Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, which earlier this year became the target of the first incident of rhino poaching in the Western Cape, has announced the birth of a new baby rhino.

Said reserve Manager, Francina Terblanche: “The arrival of little Kubudirira on April 15 was a real relief after the shock of losing our bull to poachers.”

Kubudirira means ‘The Future’ in Shona, and had been chosen as a beacon of hope for rhinos in the whole of Southern Africa, the reserve said in a statement.

The reserve’s Head Ranger, Billy Nel, said Botlierskop had taken strong measures to prevent any further poaching. “We’ve removed the horns from the adults, the animals are GPS protected, and they’re under the watchful eyes of a contingent of armed guards.” Nel added that investigations into the earlier poaching incident had not yet revealed any potential suspects.

Sourced via Tourism Online for ecoAfrica Travel.
Pictures from Botlierskop Private Game Reserve

After returning ‘home’ at the reserve, back from a great weekend over in Knysna, I found out the elephants had decided to be naughty and break all the fences around the milkwood tree! ‘While the cat’s away, the mice will play’, I guess. Selati even managed to lift a gate up off its rail so we had to place it back, which took a lot of manpower, but luckily Hein, Patrick and Ettienne managed to do it. Not only had the ellies wrecked all the fences, they had also managed to mess up the voltage on the wires, so Hein and I placed a new energizer just outside the boma, so that everything was back in order.

This week it was time to work on the cheetah skeleton again. I had already assembled it and put it all in the right place (well except for the tiniest of tiny bones maybe) but we still needed to actually construct it. That is why local Ludwig Oosthuizen, a real pro when it comes to building skeletons, came to help me! Behind the rugged appearance of this man lies a crazy amount of knowledge on skeletons and an ambition to start a little museum of his own. Hence, he wanted us to come visit him and his skeletons, to see his ‘life works’. That is why Hein and I took Tammy, volunteer on the Predator Sanctuary project, to see Ludwig and his collection when she came to visit the Big 5 Wildlife Project on Wednesday! It was at a rather deserted farm in an area with no cell phone reception whatsoever and we know this because Tammy kept checking, ha-ha! But I must really say that his collection of skeletons was very impressive, he had literally everything ranging from tiny little birds and bats to entire elands and whales! When Hein thought it time to return to our duties at the lodge we left Ludwig and his bones. On the way back we almost drove into a herd of cows that were blocking the road in front of us, which wouldn’t have mattered because we weren’t supposed to be on that road in the first place, because… Hein got lost! We seriously had to turn around like three times before he found the right road and got us back to the GRGL!

When we finally did get back to the project we had to have a quick lunch before accompanying the wildlife vet on his mission. There was another buffalo with a red eye so we had called the wildlife vet in for a consult. Before darting we tried to lure the buffaloes with pellets to get them to move to a better spot for darting, so that they wouldn’t run into the thicket or water. Then the vet darted the male buffalo with the red eye and they all ran off. When we got to them we saw the male was down but not quite under so we had to restrain him as the vet topped his drugs off to get him to settle down. This buffalo was diagnosed with the same condition as the previous one – conjunctivitis and as such got the same bolus injection of antibiotics just under the sclera of the eye, together with multiple injections of antibiotics that I got to inject! It was very awesome to inject medicine into such a large & powerful animal!

Tammy also got to help us with fixing the wires around the milkwood tree in the elephant camp, this time trying out a new system! We needed a new system because Selati has a very clever way of breaking the wires, he uses his tusks to lift them until they snap, because he knows he won’t shock through them! So this time we collected rocks to use as weights on the end of the electric wires, so that when Selati tries to wreck them, he will simply lift the rocks and the wire will give way in stead of breaking and then when he lets go they will fall back into place… At least that’s the idea so here’s hoping that it’s going to work!

Then after feeding the cheetahs Hein invited me and Tammy to the lodge to have a beer with him and Patrick and obviously we didn’t say no to that! We had a nice chat about our busy day and then it was time for me to drive Tammy to the top gate and say goodbye!

On Thursday Hein and I tried helping the cheetahs Bobby and Victor out in the reserve with stalking and hunting prey! They were out in the open field where the springbok can usually be found and they were looking for food. So Hein positioned the car in the line of view between the cheetahs and the springbok so that they could cover some ground without the springbok noticing. As we did that, Bobby approached the car and was really using us as cover, which was pretty cool, it’s amazing how smart these animals are. Unfortunately, when Victor wanted to join up with his brother the springbok were onto them and the hunt was off… Which is when the cheetahs started focusing on Hein and me, circling the car! Quite scary ha-ha, but we managed to get rid of them!

Then it was time for another excited weekend filled with fun activities! So on the Saturday Hein and Kim dropped me off at Jukani where Roger was waiting for me to bring me back to Knysna for my second visit to the volunteer house. On our way there we had to pick up Sherry (USA/SA) from George airport, who was about to start her project! Then at the volunteer house we met up with Chun (UK), Jonas (Belgium), Katy (UK), Philip (USA) and it was very nice to see all of them again. We had an awesome time in Plettenberg bay where Roger had arranged for us to have a surfing lesson, very tiring, but very cool and I think in the end we all managed to stand up! That night we all went to bed pretty early because the sea had completely tired us out… Even so it was a short night because we had to wake up at 6:30 (!!) for our excursion to Mosselbaai! That is where we met up with Alex (Germany) and went shark cage diving, I will not elaborate on that, just ask Roger how I liked it ha-ha… Let’s just say the others had a great time! We also paid a visit to the Predator Sanctuary Project at Jukani, which was cool because we got to see Tammy again and were just in time for the feeding tour which is really nice to see. Then Roger took us to a backpackers in Mosselbaai which was quite cool because it was an old train turned into a hostel, so we spent the night there after a good dinner at Dros!

Then on the Monday we were all quite lazy so we missed breakfast and ordered our own before packing our bags and leaving for the Garden Route Game Lodge aka the Big 5 Wildlife project! When we arrived at the reserve we found out Hein and the guys were very busy working on a broken water pump, which was quite a laborious task and they couldn’t use us for it. So unfortunately we had no other choice but to go and relax by the pool! After a couple laidback hours, Hein collected us and took us back to the house where he started the fire and we had an awesome braai!

The next day Alex, Katy and Chun joined me on the project and we showed them the reserve. We had coffee with the rhino’s which was really nice and just as we were about to leave them to see the rest of the Big 5 we noticed a flat tire, so we got to spend some more time with them! When the wheel was fixed we showed them what a day at the project is like and as such we did fence checks, cheetah tracking, feeding of the crocs, cheetahs and buffaloes and Hein also taught us a lot about different plant species and which ones are edible and which aren’t. He told us all the medicinal purposes of the aloe ferox plant and said the juice taste very bitter, so he dared us to taste a tiny little drop. Obviously we all wanted to try, but I didn’t listen to Hein’s warning and as such my ‘tiny little drop’ was actually quite large so it was really disgustingly bitter! Luckily, we had some leftover rusks that could take the awful taste away. The guys were actually supposed to leave and head back to their own projects but because they liked the reserve and the project so much they decided to stay another night. So we went into Albertinia and Hein showed us some good student wines we had to taste. That night Hein made us potjiekos by the fire and it was really very good, I think we actually finished all of it. We had a very cool night as we enjoyed our student wines underneath the stars!

The next morning we did a special game drive for Alex, Chun and Katy, which I think they really enjoyed – as did I, even after 6 weeks it never gets boring! Then the four of us went for lunch at the lodge and had the most awesome springbok shanks ever. When we were done, the guys went to chill by the swimming pool and I helped Hein fix the roads and build an enclosure for a rock monitor that friends of his had donated to the reserve the day before. After that it was time to say goodbye to Alex, Chun and Katy as they left and headed back to Knysna…

Then it was really there…my last day on the project! Still can’t believe it and really don’t want to leave this amazing place and these awesome people. I’m honestly leaving my heart behind! There were a lot of odd jobs this day and I got to help on all of them. For instance, Hein had to make a pizza shovel for the restaurant, we had to weld steps onto a game drive car that had broken off and of course there were the usual tasks such as fence checks, rhino patrols etc. I also got to cut the meat for the cheetahs all on my own, which was pretty cool because I had to take the skin off and divide the horses leg into pieces by myself and then dust it with the predator nutrient stuff. After which we obviously fed the cheetahs…for the last time. Then we found out there was a fault in the electric fence in the lion enclosure and Patrick was going to fix it. So I got to embark on this adventure as it was quite tricky because the lions were pretty close to where the fault in the fence was. Then we almost got stuck with the car when we tried to get to the fence as close as possible which was quite funny, but not as funny as when I tried to fix the wires. In all the 6 weeks I had spent on the reserve I had never ever been shocked (well except for the time where I touched the wire on purpose after a couple brandy & cokes) but of course I had to do it on my very last day! As I tried to wiggle the metal into place to stabilize the electric wire to the fence my thumb got stuck and as I struggled to get it out I got the shock of my life. I think Patrick almost died of laughter! It was hilarious, 8000 volts on my arm!

Then we went into Albertinia for the last time where I did some last minute souvenir shopping and got some drinks for my going-away-braai. And before I knew it, it was time for dinner and so the fire was lit and Hein, Kim, Malan, Roger and I gathered round for my very last South African braai… I’ll be back!

Last but not least I want to thank everyone again for making this experience the best of my life! From day one you have gone out of your way to ensure a good stay and a great project so thank you all very much! You are all so very kind and caring and I had the best of times, thanks again guys!

Love to all

Elise van der Heijden

Over the weekend there had been a bad case of rhino poaching in the Western Cape (only three hours away!), where all the rhino’s on a farm have been poached within two nights, absolutely outrageous and horrible that people can do something like that! This has us quite worried about the rhino’s on the reserve and as such we have been checking up on them every morning, sometimes till late in the afternoon since they’re very capable of hiding. Luckily, all three of them all still doing great!

Then we arranged for the wildlife vet to come visit us on the Wednesday, because there were some things going on with the animals. First of all, we wanted to move a zebra stallion into the reserve with the ladies to go do his business, so the vet darted the dominant stallion of the four zebra. We then moved him into the reserve where I was allowed to administer the antidote IV, which was totally awesome!

After that we had the buffalo cow darted to check up on her red eye, which turned out to be conjunctivitis. The wildlife vet took care of that with some antibiotics and painkillers. We also had him look for signs of pregnancy and we learned that she is around 9 months pregnant, so that’s great news!

Next up was the release of the cheetahs, Bobby and Victor, two inseparable brothers. The vet darted them as well and we then collared them so that we can keep track of their location, average speed, temperature etc. Then we moved them into the reserve and once again I got to wake them up with the antidote IM, so very cool indeed! Because they seemed to be waking up rather slowly and were still quite groggy, we decided to stay with them the rest of the day to make sure they would be all right. Now they are doing great, are starting to get more active by the minute (making the springbok go crazy) and we’re anticipating their first kill out in the reserve this week!

Furthermore, we dug up a cheetah skeleton that was buried around about two years ago after that cheetah had died a natural death (old age). So I have also been very busy working on that skeleton as it is now my job to put it together for the conservation centre. It is very interesting to do, but not really that easy seeing as how there are lots and lots of tiny little bones! I’ll be sure to put pictures up when (if) it’s done…

The last veterinary experience I got this week was when we heard about the baby gray rhebok that was just lying down all the time and seemed to have a torn lip. Hein and I immediately drove there and checked the baby out. She was absolutely covered in ticks and her lip was indeed torn up, she was in bad shape and couldn’t even stand up anymore! So we decided to bring her back to the house where I put her on the table to have a better look at her. We then gave her painkillers and antibiotics and took out a lot of the ticks (especially the bigger ones) and then sprayed the rest of them. I was getting ready to stitch up her little lip after cleaning it thoroughly, when we suddenly saw her jawbone sticking out of her mouth! Unfortunately, she didn’t make it!

All in all, it has been a very exciting week! My first week without my fellow volunteers Hanna and Alma (miss you guys!), but luckily Hein, Kim and cutiepie Malan are still here, still very caring and welcoming towards me, so thats great.

Being a veterinary student, I just loved the fact that I got to do a lot of veterinary work! But, even though we got a lot of stuff done, the list of things that still need to be done is even longer so I’m looking forward to next week!

Elise van der Heijden

Netherlands
EDGE of AFRICA Volunteer
November 2010

Week 1: Knysna Forest
Our first week with EDGE of AFRICA started with a day exploring the wilds of the Knysna forests. We were introduced to the local forest and wildlife expert called Hynie Tredoux (a merge of Crocodile Dundee and David Attenborough). We had previously watched a documentary on the Knysna Forest elephants and hoped to be lucky in spotting one of only three officially reported elephants. Hynie identified and introduced an unbelievable amount of flora and fauna to us and after 2 hours on the trail we stopped for a drink and were informed we had only covered around 800m. The rest of the hike was completed at a slightly quicker pace but no less interesting, and by the end of our trail we were more aware of the wildlife in the forest and started to identify tree and plant life ourselves. Our less than silent travel through the forest maybe the reason we weren’t lucky enough to see the elusive forest elephant.

Addo Elephant National Park
An EDGE of AFRICA organized trip to Addo Elephant Park was next for us. The four hour trip flew by with the prospects of seeing the Big Five especially elephants. Setting up the tents took longer than expected due to the strong South African “breezes”! Because of the windy delay we unfortunately didn’t have enough daylight left to go to the for a game drive so instead Jo and Joash organized for us to go to the Reptile and Raptor centre. As we were learning about them, reptiles were continuously placed on us whether we wanted it or not! These included gecko’s, a skink, ever increasing sizes of snakes and toads. With time running out and darkness setting in we were led into an enclosure where we met Jack the friendly owl. He was enticed with treats to land on various body parts ending up sitting on a surprised Eavanna’s head! The tour finished by meeting a brand new 4 week old fluff ball baby owl (very cute!). Thanks to Darren for introducing and educating us to your animals. Our first evening at Addo ended with a delicious braai cooked by our very own Joash, Jo and Eavanna- thanks guys!

Day 2 started early for our first game drive. With our eager faces pushed up against the windows we got the hang of spotting animals, a lot of warthog, kudu and tortoises later we were wondering if any elephant existed here. Luckily Liam needed a loo break so we stopped at a game hide and spotted our first elephant around a watering hole yay! This started off our elephant survey with GPS position, sex and group size being taken down. During the next 6 hours we were lucky enough to spot many more elephants, jackals, birds of prey, red hearty beast, eland, ostriches and enough warthogs to make Lion King 4! We then headed back to stretch our legs, have a drink and for those that needed it a nicotine fix before heading out on an evening game drive. This drive brought us within touching distance of a herd of elephant that had decided to make the road their next chosen feeding ground. It was amazing to see these beautiful animals (and young babies) so close up. The evening consisted of another delicious dinner and after few beers everyone headed for there tents in hurricane Addo.

There was enough time in the morning of day 3 for a quick game drive. We were on the hunt for lions as they had been spotted earlier in the day; unfortunately we got there just too late but did get to drive through a big herd of buffalo. After saying goodbye to Addo we packed up our things and headed home a little less enthusiastically than the journey there.

Week 2: Tuesday
Our first day at the Elephant Sanctuary, we got up at 6am and made our way with Jo and Larissa to The Crags Elephant Park just past Plettenberg Bay.

When we arrived we were armed with waterproof ponchos and Jo organized us to do the Elephant tour with the trunk in hand walk. We got to meet the three ellie’s that are mostly used for the tours; Marula, Jabu and Thandi. After some other members of our tour gave the elephants their morning scrub we were invited to take one each on a trunk in hand walk. The elephant’s handler told us to stand in front of them with our right hand out facing behind us, the elephant then placed the tip of their trunk in our hand. We walked them into the forest where we had a meet and greet. This involved each handler showing us different actions of natural elephant behaviour. Thandi shook, Jabu blew and Marula knelt. We were then introduced to the ellies and were allowed to touch different parts of their body to know how it felt. After leading them back out of the forest we then got to feed them which was their favourite part!

After a quick tea break, we got down to our ellie observation task. Firstly this involved identifying who was who (which is hard to begin with but easier with Jo’s help and knowing what to look for!), choosing two each and watching for certain behaviours. For example if Marula touched Thandi’s bum we would have to note the time of the bum touching, the two ellies involved in the bum touching and who initiated/received the bum touch! Seeing as elephants eat for up to 20 hours a day there often wasn’t many interactions to note down but it was a pleasure to sit and watch these gentle giants.

After a quick lunch, we were asked to do some painting in the new handler and elephant accommodation. The painting got a bit messy and we came out looking like we had serious dandruff problems. (a few paint fights may have been involved too!)

After clearing everything away this completed our first day, so we headed home possibly snoozing along the way!

Wednesday
Up early again, today was harder than yesterday! Jo (who travels every elephant day from Plettenberg to Knysna at 5 in morning) came and picked us up and drove us back past her house to the elephant sanctuary! (good old Jo!)

Today started with us getting stuck in clearing and sweeping out the ellie stables. You become very quickly more accustomed to ellie poo when your knee deep in it! We were then asked to collect together all the sticks and twigs from the elephants night enclosure.

After lunch we continued helping by painting poison (not human or ellie poison) on the connectors of the electric fences around the elephant enclosure. The solution should prevent spider webs being made as they disrupt the electric fence current.

After all of our hard work of the morning we were rewarded with a few more hours of elephant observation study. Today we felt a lot more comfortable identifying each elephant without looking at the helpful guide sheet.

Thursday
Day three and we dragged ourselves out of bed. After sleeping our way to the sanctuary we set about our familiar task of poo clearance and remaking the elephant’s sawdust based beds.

Our next task seemed simple at first and was to rake the stick cleared elephant night enclosure to make it look snazzy for the visiting tourists. After two and a half hours of raking in the hot sun we had successfully cleared half the enclosure and it did indeed look snazzy. Exhausted yet satisfied with our work we collapsed down for lunch and a few more hours of conservation study.

Week 3: Workshops
This week as part of our everything elephant project we visited local schools and youth centres around our area and carried our workshops on elephant anatomy and social behaviour. In the week we visited pre-schools (Judah Square, Siyafunda) with kids aged from 2-5 where we did colouring in, and cutting and sticking exercises all about elephants. We taught at a local orphanage with kids aged from 3-17. A little trickier to include all ages in the lesson but we managed it by each group drawing and labelling their own elephant. Following this was an elephant based word search and a fun interactive test that included everybody. With the skills and workshops we had created we also visited local youth centres, Sinethemba and Mad about Art. Although this all sounds very teacher like, we spent most of our time playing games, messing about with the kids and being human jungle gyms! We will take many fun and happy memories away with us and loved every minute of being a kid again!

Thank you EDGE of AFRICA & Knysna! We will be back! J

Lots of Love Cara and Seb xxx

This week has been one of the most interesting and fun weeks of my life – this is no exaggeration.

Not only have I learned about the wildlife here and the workings of the lodge, I have learned the value of a hard day’s work and about the amazing people who operate this program – Hein, his wife Kim and Piet. Every day is different and there is always a lot to do – there is never a dull moment. I will give you a brief overview of the highlights of my week here; to list everything I have learned and experienced this week would require a book!

Accommodation
The accommodation is great. We sleep in very comfortable, warm tents that really give one the experience of being out here. I hear the animals during the night and always sleep very well in the fresh, crisp air. Nothing is better than the sound of light rain on one’s tent and it actually stays dry inside! This is the perfect way to sleep out here and I prefer this to sleeping inside. The common area has internet and a kitchen, hot shower and everything one needs; nights are usually spent catching up with friends around the world.

Daily Projects
Many are living vicariously through me on Facebook following my experiences daily. I think my favourite thing this week has been feeding the animals with Piet. Piet is a wealth of knowledge, always polite and a lot of fun to work with. Many times I drive the truck so Piet can scope out the location of the animals – which is great as it is right hand drive and again, it is a first for me. He makes me feel very comfortable and I feel very safe working around these animals when Piet is there. Many of the animals have to have their diets supplemented due to the drought. In the mornings we load up the truck with lucerne and go looking for the zebras, kudo, rhinos, giraffes and buffalo. It is an excellent way to get a close up of the animals and really watch their behaviour and see their physical make-up. I have never been this close to animals before and I have a difficult time putting into words how I feel. No matter how many times I see a rhino, each time is like the first. It never gets boring to see a zebra or look at a giraffe in awe of its timidity and sheer size – it’s a conflict of two realities. The reserve itself is very pretty and I love driving around looking for the different species of animals. Sometimes we can’t find them, other times they find us.

Experiences
One day while feeding the rhino an eland approached the rhino baby and they were locking horns with one another over the food; this was a very rare scene to witness, it was very exciting.After we feed the animals out on the reserve we get to feed the cheetahs that are in the breeding program here. There are some young ones, some genetically challenged ones, one recovering male who has had a major leg surgery and some healthy adults. Patrick usually prepares the meat for them but sometimes Piet will butcher the meat. The cheetahs are incredible creatures; again to get so close to them is brilliant.The elephants here require a lot of work. This week their groomer Harrison was on holidays so we tended to them every day. Their names are Selati, a bull and Kidibone, a cow. Kidibone has a very distinct personality; she is a bit of a joker and every morning when I go in and say hello to her she throws sawdust in my face. It’s funny and I don’t mind as this is the first time an elephant has ever thrown anything in my face! Every morning we start by distributing branches and hay out in the elephant fields. We then clean the bomas which is a great way to warm up while it’s still cold out. Every afternoon we head into the town of Albertinia and cut branches for the elephants. We use machetes and it’s difficult for me so I usually just end up loading up the truck. I really enjoy this time as well; regardless of what we are doing it’s all a new experience for me and I make the most of it; even if I’m not very good at it! One day Piet and I had to collect old telephone poles from the elephants’ area. The poles were very heavy and it took both of us to get them on the truck. The elephants were very curious in what we were doing and came over to investigate. They kept trying to take the poles off the truck and weren’t scared when Piet yelled at them. It was very funny and I am still laughing several days later about it.One day we had the opportunity to feed the lions. They are fed every seven to ten days and it was awesome! The lions are fed a cow that has had its legs removed. The carcass is loaded into the back of a pick-up truck. When we entered the camp the lions could smell it and actually chased the truck. Piet reversed down a hill and slammed on the brakes so the meat would roll out the back. It was so cool to again get that close, to watch a lion rip apart the cow and to have another lion circling the truck. Melanie looked like she was going to have a heart attack! I was so fortunate to be there and have the opportunity to experience this, it is something I will always remember.

Another highlight of the week was going back into the lion camp to plant trees. I never thought that planting trees could be so exhilarating but it was. We had to keep a close eye on the lions and make sure they didn’t get close. In the back of my mind I couldn’t help remember the story Piet told me about the time some staff members were in the lions camp and their truck wouldn’t start. We planted the trees and everything was fine – but it was very exciting. Piet has a quota of about 70 to plant every month. Again, the week was full of so many experiences, I have learned so much and enjoyed every second. Kim and Hein go above and beyond to make sure I am happy and are very accommodating; one knows they are in very good hands here.

Highlights
There were two final memories I would like to include and those are the cheetah kill and darting a rhino.

1. Inyanga is a female cheetah that has been released onto the reserve and a big success it is as she is making kills and being self sufficient. It is ayoba that she has been able to integrate back into nature. One day she had killed a small, pregnant antelope and Piet and I were able to get very close to her and the kill and see it – that was amazing; but the best part was that she was acting in typical cheetah behaviour.
2. The resident male rhino was very aggressive towards the elephants and in fact they were fighting through the fence. This rhino killed an elephant before so he can be very dangerous. His mate has had a baby and her aloof behaviour towards him further increases his aggression. In an experimental program, Hein has been giving the male rhino hormones that decrease his testosterone levels thus decreasing his aggression. It has been successful thus far and on Friday Hein had to give the rhino another dose. The rhino had to be darted in the back of his leg just above the knee to ensure he couldn’t see the dart which would further upset him. Hein darted the rhino so quickly and perfectly it was over in less than a second. Its amazing that even rhino can get hormone replacement therapy!

There were many other things we did this week, too many to list here! In summary it has been an awesome experience and I wouldn’t change one moment of it. I am so happy to be here and will be very sad to leave. All the people here are bright, kind, hard working and a pleasure to see everyday.

Thanks to everyone for an experience that will last a lifetime!

Melissa Haynes
EDGE of AFRICA Volunteer

Big Five Wildlife Project

October 2 – October 14, 2010

In short, this experience has been absolutely amazing. The program is based at the Garden Route Game Lodge near Mossel Bay. This is a lodge where guests come to stay and go on game drives during the day. It is the job of the workers and volunteers to manage the game reserve and all of its animals. As a volunteer, I worked with Piet, the volunteer coordinator. Piet is a great person to work with because he makes if fun while teaching you anything you want to know about the animals and the reserve. Some of the daily jobs that we do include cleaning out the elephants’ boma, cutting down small trees to feed the elephants, feeding the buffaloes, and feeding the cheetahs. On top of these daily activities, we also had other tasks to complete that were needed at the time.

This past week has been a special time for the reserve because they have recently doubled their land. We had to make gates at the boundaries of the new land while other workers took down the old fencing, opening up the entire reserve. Another important task with the opening of the new land was to guide the animals to it. Although there is no more fencing, the animals have a mental barrier as to where their boundaries are and it may take a while for them to explore on their own. We guided the buffalos into the new land by feeding them a little bit at a time, and making sure they were following the truck to get more food. This was a hard task because the two days we attempted it, the buffaloes were no where to be found. Every other day the buffalos have been right out in the open, but of course the day we need them they are hiding. We eventually found them and, after a lot of teasing with the food, the buffaloes were finally in their new territory. After this great success on our part, they returned back to the old land within a half hour. However, we were still happy because now they know there is no boundary and they will explore more on their own.

Another task we had was to shoot a zebra that was injured with an infected leg. They had given him a few weeks to heal, but the leg just kept getting worse, so they made the decision to kill it. After shooting it, we brought it to the reserve’s butcher shed and skinned it (I actually just watched). This skin will be sold at the curio shop and the money will be put back into the reserve. We then brought the skinned zebra across the street to the butchery where they prepared and sold the meat. Although it seems like a sad story, the zebra was suffering and it is all part of running a reserve. In the next few days, we will dart and relocate another male zebra to put with the female zebras who lost their dominant stallion.

The game lodge has a reptile park with caged snakes that the guests can visit. Because they are caged, they must be fed. Piet and I had the task of shooting a bird to feed to the Green Mamba snakes. We drove around in the truck until we found a good shot, and after missing once, I shot the second bird. This was a good experience because I had never shot anything before, and the bird was put to good use.

These were just a few of the main things I have experienced here. Although there is work to be done, it is all fun doesn’t seem like work at all. There is also plenty of time to relax. One of my favourite things about this setting is that the yard in front of the tents has a small pond that overlooks the reserve. This means that the animals walk up close to the fence, which is amazing to watch while relaxing in the back yard. The sunsets are also amazing from this point, and on a quiet night you can hear the lions roaring! Hein and Kim have been incredibly welcoming and friendly.

I am extremely glad that I participated in this wonderful experience. It’s like nothing else in the world!