Wow! How to explain this day? I'm at a loss; something that rarely occurs with me. For those of you who don't know or forgot, I am spending a week volunteering with African Conservation Experience and it has been amazing. Volunteers help with research: tracking and logging animals in the reserve and we have been setting traps in super high grass with lots of ticks (and who knows what else) to find suitable sights to release pangolins. However today was a different story....and how!
We helped move 5 white rhinos (1 male and 2 females with babies) to different parks and reserves in Africa! They were darted with tranquilizers, injected with a sedative that would kill a human so no touching near the injection spot of course, then blindfolded, horns chainsawed,any wound treated and injected with antibiotics if necessary. I sprayed antibiotic spray onto wounds on the male, then we got them back on their feet and we pulled with ropes and others pushed on their sides to keep them upright until they were loaded for transport. This is up there with one of the most memorable experiences of my life!!
But then we de-collared a 50 year old bull elephant named Steve. This involved drones, a helicopter a person hanging out of the helicopter to dart him, the warden and many of the guides as well as us. It was quite an operation and again the experience of a lifetime! It has only been done six times at this reserve and I feel so fortunate to have participated. The day ended after our ant gathering with seeing a pride of lions - 7 in all! What a day!
Please know that all of this was done humanely. You can watch Steve wake up and the rhinos are sedated until they reach their destination. Mothers are kept with their babies.
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| Spraying antibiotics |
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| Pulling into transport - hard work! |
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