Capturing and translocating 24 rhinos in 5 days!

Had one of the best weeks in my life. To be responsible for the capture of 24 white rhinos was an absolute dream. The more I learn about rhinos, the more and more I LOVE them. It's incredible that we are able to catch, transport and release such a huge and powerful animal. Especially white rhinos have such a gentle, sensitive nature, it's magic! Very fortunate to be able to work so closely with them. No words for it. The horrendous rhino poaching by a professional gang (182 rhinos poached in 2010!) must STOP NOW! How can people leave these innocent, precious, amazing animals wandering around without horn, but still alive? Sickening! Humanity is seriously ill: greed, greed, greed. Why don't people see that being RICH has nothing to do with money? Love (for the planet, all living beings and in all actions) is the only true value in human excistence. Just think about dying tomorrow? What was truely important? Please also see www.sabahrhinoproject.com. A project to save the most endangered rhino on the planet with only 50 individuals left. The Kruger Park success story (only 12 rhinos were left and now over 12.000 rhinos are living in the park), shows that it's not too late: this very special little hairy rhino can be saved from extinction! It took the planet billions of years to create all these amazing, fascinating species and it takes humanity only 100 years to get rid of them all. An interesting challenge to turn it around. Together with Obama: I believe WE CAN!

Buffalo testing

Because African buffalos are closely related to domestic livestock they can get infected with the same infectious diseases. Because wild animals do not need to produce 40 litres of milk a day or high quality beef, they are able to focus on the most natural goal in life: to stay healthy! Therefore they do not get ill from diseases what can make domestic cattle or goats very ill and sometimes even kill them. As we all know, most infectious diseases are devastating for a farmer. Because African buffalos can carry highly contagious and dangerous diseases without even showing a single symptom, it can be problematic to prevent them to transmit any diseases. Therefore the South African veterinary authorities decided to only allow African buffalos with the "disease free" status in areas where domestic livestock is kept. This is the complete country except the area of the Kruger NP, so the demand for these buffalos got so high that the price of these animals increased with the same speed. At a certain time a "disease free buffalo" was worth more than a white rhinoceroses, so it's worth the effort. Also it's important for the survival of the species to have enough disease free animals. Especially the long-term effects of e.g. Tuberculosis on the African buffalos in Kruger NP are worrying. To get the status 'disease free' an African buffalo has been tested negative 5 times for the following diseases: tuberculosis, brucellosis (both bacterials), Corridor's disease (a blood parasite) and fouth and mouth disease (a virus). For the Tuberculosis test each buffalo has to be darted twice: first to inject the tuberculin and second to measure the thickness of the skin (in a TB positive buffalo the skin swells up, the same as the Mantaux test in humans).

Inspiration

You'll never ever hear me complain about my amazing neighbours! Each of these incredible wild animals, from elephant to insect, inspires me every day in their own way, just to BE, in balance and harmony with nature, including ourselves.

Emilina

This is my friend Emilina from Mali. She is one of the strongest and creative woman I have ever met. For over 10 years she is working as an African buffalo keeper: physically heavy work, all day in the hot sun. Twelve days in a row, from 6 a.m. until 4 p.m. and then 2 days off. She earns around 120 euros per month and lives in a shed next to the buffalos. She does not have children and does not know anybody in South Africa, except to her husband and 3 other colleagues. She never has time or money to do something next her work. Without social security and treated 'as a black woman in the conservative South African bush', which is far from good. That her life. When we see each other, she ALWAYS is charming, cheerful and truely interested. She manages to look like a lady with 'fashionable' old clothes, ear rings and many different hats. Of course I try to be there for her, but she is also there for me. Last week she gave me a bag full of avocados; I was not allowed to refuse. This woman has dignity! Lots of respect. The huge gap between our worlds (we don't even speak the same language) does not interfere with a connection from human to human, from heart to heart. We are friends!

Rhino crisis!

South Africa has a serious rhino poaching crisis! The numbers of rhinos poached this year, is the worst ever. It's absurd that there is almost no attention for this problem in the worldwide media. In 2010 only, over 80 white rhinos have been poached by professional gangs to meet a growing demand for horns. People in South Africa are poor and need quick pocket money. Rhino horn is still used in many Chinese traditional medicine products and in Yemen as handles for traditional swords. Both markets are continiously growing, because more and more people can afford these expensive products: very worrying!! The horrendous poachers use helicopters and even veterinary immobilization drugs to dart the free-ranging rhinos instead of shooting them, to prevent making a noise. For the same reason they often leave the poor animal bleeding to death. Last week a rhino without a face was found wandering around in a reserve. The poachers had cut off the horn and the complete face with an electric saw. The animal was breathing through a hole in between its eyes. Sickening!! Horrible suffering what could easily have been avoided by a few gunshots. These actions make these poachers not just criminals, but barbaric! Who are these 'people'?? These professionals do their homework well and possible have connections in the South African political system: they know which reserves have rhinos, how many and which anti-poaching control is in place. The fact that you undertake strong anti-poaching actions assist to reduce the likelyhood to become a target. In regarding to the rapid speed the poaching increased over the last year, quick actions are crucial. De-horning rhinos seems to solve the problem short-term. When we de-horn a rhino as an anti-poaching method, we cut off the horn 8 cm above the basis to make sure it does not bleed. In only 2 years the complete horn has grown back, so the animal does not experience any long-term effect by removing it. The fact that it's not permanent, is great. On top of that, the precious animals really are much more safe! It's almost impossible to protect the large areas they live in, so to not having a horn at all seems to be the most effective anti-poaching action. As far as we know, it does not influence their natural behaviour and the stump can still act as a defence weapon. Rhinos also break their horns naturally in the wild, which grow back the same as de-horned ones. Okay, of course it's much nicer to see them with a horn, but don't you agree their lifes are more important? The immobilizations to de-horn a rhino takes a maximum of 10 minutes and the total time from darting to a fully awake rhino is approximately 18 minutes. That's IT! After these 10 minutes of 'tripping' with a drugs 10.000 times stronger than Morphine (don't tell me that's suffering!), they are up in their feet and 100% awake as if nothing ever happened. Each time I de-horn a rhino, I am happy to be able to make a contribution to the safety of this ancient amazing animal. These species are soooo much longer on this planet than human beings and we MUST protect them from going extinct!

So many amazing species on this planet

More pics later! The internet is just soooo slow here in the bush.

Broken horn

Yesterday had a challenging day. One of my patients, a 2 year old white rhinoceroses, was looking wobbly and lethargic. I have been treating her already for 3 weeks, because of a broken horn. She had been improving well, but now she suddenly was going down hill. I had to give her some treatments as soon as possible. A wild animal always tries to hide any weaknesses, so when they start to show any clinical symptoms, it's always an emergency.

The darting was challenging as her companion, a 3 year old bull, kept on running and she followed him everywhere. Also, he run into my direction once; luckily I can run! Therefore had to approach them 'walking as a soldier', not making any noise and standing still when they looked into my direction. Always really enjoy this part of the job. Finally I could shoot her into her left shoulder. After 6 minutes she was deep enough asleep to chase away the bull, while she stayed behind. That can be quite dangerous, but he left after we made noise and threw some branches. Then I approached her from behind and put a blindfold over her eyes and ear plugs into her ears. Then she went down and her anaesthetics were surprisingly nice and steady for a whole hour. I was able to give her plenty of IV fluids (15L) through 3 different lines, antibiotics and anti-inflammation. We also washed the wounds which were healing well and put antibiotics cream on it. I also felt that the horn was healing well. At the end of the procedure, I noticed her ears moving, a clear sign that she was getting very light. I did not wanna top up the drugs, because she had been sleeping for over an hour. Decided to wake her up. First I removed all catheters, then I gave the antidiote IV and then I removed the earplugs and blindfold. She took off immediately, clearly feeling much better! Let's keep our fingers crossed that she's going to be okay.

Power girls!

Last week in Kruger NP, I met these beautiful 2 spotted hyenas. They stayed next to my car and were completely comfortable: a lovely present! I love hyenas, both the brown and the more common spotted hyena. Hyenas don't have a very good reputation. Why is not really clear to me, because these animals are one of the most fascinating creatures ever. They live in complex societies and are highly intelligent. Especially women must love this species! The social structure of hyenas is dominated by the females: these power girls are bigger and stronger than the males, so that they can get more food for themselves and their offspring in their competitive society. This practical fact to increase the survival rate of young cubs makes you wonder why not more animal species have life organized this way. I personally am happy that this is not the case in humans (no beard please!): studies have shown that female hyenas have high levels of testosterone in their blood. This makes them having this masculine appearance, including a very large clitoris looking like a penis.

Translocating antelopes

Had such a good time last week! Was on horse back all day from 7 in the morning till around 3 in the afternoon to dart sable and roan antelopes: wow these animals are so beautiful! Roan and sable antelopes are a different species, but closely related: a kind of cousins. Roan antelopes are a bit bigger and light in color, while the sable antelopes are almost black. Males and females of both species have these world famous, magnificent horns: the name 'sable antelope' says enough.

We had to translocate all 2 year old males from the family herds into a 'Bachelors camp' (a total of 24) just before they reached sexually maturity. The dominant bulls of each herd would for sure start fighting with the grown up bulls to make sure that his genes will continue to spread. In the wild, young bulls naturally leave the herd and join up with other bulls or live solitary, until they are old enough the challenge a dominant bull. Often older bulls guide the younger ones into their new lifes without mum; the same happens for many species, including elephants. It seems that they somehow remember their own difficult times just thrown out of the safe herd and how grateful they were with their 'big uncle'.

Darting these antelopes can be tricky, especially when they are running like mad. Somehow wild animals do not distinguish 'a human being and a horse'. When we approach them on horseback, we are just a weired lump on the back of the horse. It works amazingly well! When the herd is too wild to even approach with a horse, I hide myself in a tree and wait.... This is the weirdest thing ever: I am sitting in a tree, the antelopes look up, clearly SEE me, stare at me for around a minute to figure out what I am...and then continue to graze as if nothing happened! They are not able to distuinghish 'a human being and a tree'. I am just a weired type of fruit or so? Depending on the temperament of the herd, the darting is easy or difficult. Twenty-four in a week is not a bad number. All young bulls are safe now, which is the most important, because dominant bulls sometimes even kill competitors. In the bachelor herds, all bulls live happily in peace together, as long as there are no 'hot chicks' around (hmm, quite recognisable, not?). So it's important to keep all mature females at a safe distance!

Working together with this team of 4 game guards and Vusie my assistant always is a pleasure. We're having good laughs whenever possible, but during the work everybody is serious. It´s inspiring how these people, with very challenging, though lifes, are able to keep such a positive cheerful spirit. I have been trying to practise some Zulu, but wow, these 'clicks' were impossible to pronounce: a good reason for a lot of laughs! Just love Africa.

Mozambique, paradise!

Just wanna share some pics from Mozambique: what a paradise! Luckily living just 20 minutes from the border with this stunning country. Inspiring how fast the Mozambicans built up their devastated country again so soon. In 1992, the horrendous Mozambican Civil War, started in 1977, finally stopped. The complete country was ruined, no roads, no infra-structure and more than 900.000 people died and 5 milion people were displaced. In 1994 the first multi-party elections were held.

This horrible history is hard to imagine now, while travelling in a stunning country and meeting so many friendly, loving smiles on your way (actually never visited a country with such sincerely sweet people). Over the last 16 years Mozambique has been working hard to turn into a wonderful holiday destination. Also, lots of wildlife species have been translocated to Mozambique from South Africa. Most reserves were 'poached' empty during the Civil War, but over the last years many land owners are importing all kind of wildlife species, which is wonderful. One of the highlights in nature conservation was the union of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park in Mozambique with the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The fench has been complete removed, so all wildlife can move freely to Mozambique (no passport needed). Unfortunately the poaching is still a big problem in Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, and the wild animals know this. So up to now, most animals stay on the Kruger NP side. Hopefully over time, more and more animals will slowly move to the Mozambican side by seeing other animals being happy there (a bit like people attracting other people in an empty restaurant).

Rhino crisis in South Africa

South Africa has a serious rhino poaching crisis! The numbers of rhinos poached this year, is the worst ever. It's absurd that there is almost no attention for this problem in the worldwide media. In 2010 only, over 80 white rhinos have been poached by professional gangs to meet a growing demand for horns. People in South Africa are poor and need quick pocket money. Rhino horn is still used in many Chinese traditional medicine products and in Yemen as handles for traditional swords. Both markets are continiously growing, because more and more people can afford these expensive products: very worrying!! The horrendous poachers use helicopters and even veterinary immobilization drugs to dart the free-ranging rhinos instead of shooting them, to prevent making a noise. For the same reason they often leave the poor animal bleeding to death. Last week a rhino without a face was found wandering around in a reserve. The poachers had cut off the horn and the complete face with an electric saw. The animal was breathing through a hole in between its eyes. Sickening!! Horrible suffering what could easily have been avoided by a few gunshots. These actions make these poachers not just criminals, but barbaric! Who are these 'people'?? These professionals do their homework well and possible have connections in the South African political system: they know which reserves have rhinos, how many and which anti-poaching control is in place. The fact that you undertake strong anti-poaching actions assists to reduce the likelyhood to become a target. In regarding to the rapid speed the poaching increased over the last year, quick actions are crucial. De-horning rhinos seems to solve the problem short-term. When we de-horn a rhino as an anti-poaching method, we cut off the horn 7-8 cm above the basis to make sure it does not bleed. The horn grows back in several years and the fact that it's not permanent, is great. On top of that, the precious endangered animals really are much more safe! It's almost impossible to protect the large areas they live in, so to not having a horn at all seems to be the most effective anti-poaching method. As far as we know, it does not influence their natural behaviour and the stump can still act as a defence weapon. On top of that, dehorned rhinos have a good chance to survive fights (bruised, but okay) with each other. Rhino bulls with long horns are known to be able to kill other rhinos, both males and females. Rhinos also break their horns naturally in the wild, which grow back the same as de-horned ones. Okay, of course it's much nicer to see them with a horn, but don't you agree their lifes are more important? The immobilizations to de-horn a rhino takes a maximum of 10 minutes and the total time from darting to a fully awake rhino is approximately 18 minutes. That's IT! After these 10 minutes of 'tripping' with a drugs 10.000 times stronger than morphine (don't tell me that's suffering), they are up in their feet and 100% awake as if nothing ever happened. Each time I de-horn a rhino, I am happy to be able to make a contribution to the safety of this ancient amazing animal. These species are soooo much longer on this planet than human beings and we MUST protect them from going extinct!

Special visit!

Welcoming my lovely parents in the bush has been an amazing experience. It was their first time leaving Europe. They flew straight from their safe Dutch hometown into the African bush, where their 'crazy' daughter lives. I have always admired their understanding for a life-style so different from their own (as part of twins I was raised in the travel bed from a cousin; in my opinion the only reason why I started travelling so much). Their 2 week visit has amazed me even more. At first they became worryingly quiet when I had to explain about all dangerous snakes, scorpions and the wild animals around the house (rhinos, buffalos, hippos), but after settling in, they both started to really enjoy and appreciate the bush. Thanks for everything and lots of love!!

African buffalo testing

Because African buffalos are closely related to domestic livestock they can get infected with the same infectious diseases. Because wild animals do not need to produce 40 litres of milk a day or high quality beef, they are able to focus on the most natural goal in life: to stay healthy! Therefore they do not get ill from diseases what can make domestic cattle or goats very ill and sometimes even kill them. As we all know, most infectious diseases are devastating for a farmer. Because African buffalos can carry highly contagious and dangerous diseases without even showing a single symptom, it can be problematic to prevent them to transmit any diseases. Therefore the South African veterinary authorities decided to only allow African buffalos with the "disease free" status in areas where domestic livestock is kept. This is the complete country except the area of the Kruger NP, so the demand for these buffalos got so high that the price of these animals increased with the same speed. At a certain time a "disease free buffalo" was worth more than a white rhinoceroses, so it's worth the effort. Also it's important for the survival of the species to have enough disease free animals. Especially the long-term effects of e.g. Tuberculosis on the African buffalos in Kruger NP are worrying. To get the status 'disease free' an African buffalo has been tested negative 5 times for the following diseases: tuberculosis, brucellosis (both bacterials), Corridor's disease (a blood parasite) and fouth and mouth disease (a virus). For the Tuberculosis test each buffalo has to be darted twice: first to inject the tuberculin and second to measure the thickness of the skin (in a TB positive buffalo the skin swells up, the same as the Mantaux test in humans).

Going for a walk with a rhino

"Walking" a rhino is one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced in my life. During my internship in the Kruger NP as a vet student in 1997 I saw an incredible walk with a rhino for the first time and honestly could not believe my eyes. Okay, during these 2 impressive months I experienced more things I could not believe, e.g. capturing lions while listening to crying hyena's played by tape on top of the roof of a caravan. The fact that a human being can manipulate these large and dangerous animals such as rhinos, so that you can walk with them whereever you want sounds to weired to be true. But it works!

Just try to imagine.....working in the bush and you want to translocate a rhino to another area. After darting a wild animal always runs off. We have to track the animal to make sure we find it once it's down. Of course these huge animals not always don't fall asleep next to a road, but more often in thick bush (a safe place), far away from access for the truck or trailer. What do you do then? It's impossible to carry all these kilo's and you're quite in a rush to wake up this highly precious animal as soon as possible.... Pioneers in wildlife capture figured out a fantastic solution: you wake the rhino up just a little bit and let it walk itself: fantastic trick, not? The most important things are the blindfold, earplugs and of course a correct amount of 'partial antidote'. This means that the anesthetics drugs used to make (and keep!) the animal asleep only partially gets antagonised to make sure that it stays asleep deep enough! The situation can quickly get extremely dangerous if you confuse the partial antagonist with a full antagonist or when you for example give too much of it. A fully awake rhino does NOT wanna go for a walk with you, but just goes for you! So hang-overs or automatic pilot mood are not possible with this work. Once the animal slightly wakes up, it will stand up and 5 guys on a rope will pull it into the right direction. A rope on a hind leg is important as a brake. Sounds practical, not?

Beautiful ugly is not ugly

Isn't she a beauty?? Okay, there not too clever and they always walk exactly in front of your car when in a hurry, but wow these guinea fowls are amazing in their own special way!

wounded buffalo

Buffalos are tough and sometimes it's better to leave wounds, otherwise you'd be busy stitching up wounds all day. But this wound was just too deep, too dirty and too bloody so decided to dart the animal, clean it out, stitch it up and put bandage around the foot; especially for fleas and mud its better to cover up deep wounds. After 4 days I darted it again to remove the bandage: it was healed perfectly. Amazing patients: this makes a happy vet!

Unlucky hippo

Never a dull moment in the office! One morning my boss came in my office at 6 am and asked me: "How good are you with hippos". I thought it was a joke, because hippos are known to be one of the most dangerous and most difficult wild animal species to put under anesthetics. They are extremely aggressive and territorial. An attack is often fatal. On top of that, the physical appearance of a hippo does not help either. The thick layer of fat requires a huge needle to be able to penetrate any muscle and a needle long enough does not really exist. The blood circulation in fat is minimal and therefore drugs can't do the job when landing in fat: it can take hours before all drugs is absorbed and the drugs are secreted by the kidneys and liver in the same time: so the animal won't fall asleep. The best place to dart is therefore the cheek, as the fat layer is there the thinnest, but the fragile eyes are scarely close... Another big problem is the fact that hippos always stay in the water during the day. When you are lucky enough that the animal is out of the water, they will run into it, their safe haven, as soon as possible after darting. In both situations the animal will drown, because the breathing reflex stops under general anesthetics. Luckily I knew about a new combination of drugs, currently under investigation in the Kruger National Park. This combination of anesthetics puts a hippo under general anesthetics, but keeps the respiration reflex going, exactly how a hippo sleeps in the wild. A hippo is able to sleep, while the nostrils come to the surface regularly to take a breath automatically. The same as for example how we blink our eyes: it just happens without knowing. When you see the nostrils of hippos regularly coming to the surface during the day, you are watching a sleeping hippo! They are grazing outside the water all night to fill their large stomachs, so a bit of sleep during the day is quite welcome. This new combination of drugs seems to be very succesful and will improve the capture of this species tremendously. But okay, the face of my boss told me that it was not a joke. A wounded hippo was found at the fench on the other side of the park. She probable came from Kruger NP; this means that she crossed the N4, a very busy road (trafic accidents caused by hippos are unfortunately not uncommon in this part of South Africa). According to the field rangers, she was in very bad condition and we did not have any time to loose. I am always in for a challenge and each wounded animal deserves help, so quickly I read some info about hippo anesthetics (thanks colleagues!) and we loaded the jeep. After a 45 minutes drive we found a severely distressed animal next to the fench. It was heart breaking to see such a powerful animal so weak. She was laying on its side, breathing heavily and not able to move. A very common problem of wild animals is called 'capture myopathie': muscle damage caused by contineous fighting to try to survive. E.g. when you run for your life, at full speed, for 5 kilometers, your muscles will be destroyed and you won't be able to move anymore. Wild animals know that they will die once they give up, so they fight literaly until they are dead; they won't give themselves a break. This animal was probably caught in the fench earlier in the night and had been fighting to get out for hours and hours. By now she was out of the fench but completely exhausted. Because the animal would for sure not survive any anesthetics, I decided to only inject her with painkillers, antibiotics and vitamins. Luckily we could inject her with a pole syringe (a syringe on a large stick) and wet the animal with water, but I knew the prognosis was very bad. Unfortunately there was nothing more we could do for her. Sadly she passed away a few hours later. These occasions make me long for the Africa before humans were dominating the world: an Africa without fenches.

Bird eyes

Rhinos and many other wildlife species are often darted from a helicopter, mainly to be able to find them easier before and after darting. With dangerous species such a elephants and black rhinos it is also for safety reasons. The decision to rent a helicopter and a pilot (expensive rate per hour) depends on the terrain, the animal species, the size of the area and the situation. Most South African helicopter pilots have their own helicopter close to home and use it as a 'car'. In the wildlife season they are most of the time very busy, so each action must be well planned in advance. The shy and agressive black rhino must always be darted from an helicopter, mainly because they are too aggressive to approach and very difficult to find after darting. The more docile and grazing white rhino can most of the times be darted while tracked on foot in the bush (make sure you approach them in the wind: when they smell you they're gone!). But once they run away, what they often do after being hit by the dart, it can be difficult to find them again, especially in thick bush. A helicopter is often amazingly helpful. You won't believe me, but keeping track on a huge animal as a rhino can be tremendously difficult, even from the air. One day I had to keep an eye on a (not yet darted) white rhino for almost an hour from a helicopter to make sure we would not loose it. This was a nerve racking task and I could not believe how often we lost the animal out of sight, even under small trees. Somehow the colour grey works wonderful as a camouflage. Luckily we always found her back and we could dart her and reunion her with her calf. Thanks to the helicopter and of course the pilot! The skills of helicopter pilots specialized in wildlife capture are very impressive. They combine a thorough knowledge of wild animals, their specific behaviour (all animal species act different) and movements with amazing flying skills. Most of them probably were a raptor in their previous lifes. For example while darting wild elephants the helicopter pilot is essential to chase the not-darted elephants or other dangerous animals away and to keep an eye on the safety on the ground. Elephants often come back to help their family members, so it's vey dangerous to dart elephants without a helicopter. Also, large herds of various wildlife species, such as wildebeest and impalas are very often captured by only using a helicopter, as darting each individual animal is practically impossible. This exciting activity requires amazing flying skills to be able to guide a large herd of wild animals into a boma (large pen).

More elephants pics

There we go...more pics of elephants in the Kruger. More to come later!