Game Capture of Cape Buffalo using bakkies

I was particularly excited today as it was going to be involving game capture or the capture of wild cape buffaloes. These buffaloes are sold to other private game reserves or to other parks so as to gain revenue which are used for the park upkeep and conservation efforts. We gathered at the work shed by 6 am and were joined by a separate team consisting of the vet and support team. Many rangers were involved as well and the morning meeting consisted of a safety brief a well as deciding who would be on which bakkie.

2 trucks with carriers followed us on the capture, and these would be used for the transport of the captured buffaloes We split up and  spent 30 minutes or so driving around the park looking for buffalo herds, one of which would be chosen. On the way to a potential herd, the group I was in bypassed 2 lions and a lioness and this was a lucky sighting considering the fact that there are only 9 lions in the park. One male looked injured and both were lazing around till they moved away due to more and more vehicles stopping by to catch a glimpse of them.

The vet's vehicle surveying the herd ahead

Moving up onto a staff service road, we stopped by to let the vet bypass us and do a survey on the head ahead. The vet and team would tranquilise the animals and the rest of us would then move in to help with the physical manpower needed to move the darted animals.

The whole process took some time but before long, we were driving down to where the darted animals lay, in a rather blur state. We had metal stretchers on the bakkies and these were carried down and the animals shifted onto them, before being carried up to the bakkie by hand. This was where most help was needed as the lighter ones weighed around 400 kg. Care was also taken that the animals did not choke on their own tongues and movement done as quickly as possible.

Transferring the animal to the containment unit

The next part was to transfer them to the containment units. The containment units are made of metal and can potentially heat up on hot days and this is why animal captures are usually done early so as to not expose the animals to high temperatures. The animals were awake throughout the process but in a dazed state and completely immobilised.

Once secured inside the containment unit, the antidote to reverse the effect of darting was given and the animals awakened, moving about their new surroundings.
This process was repeated for all the animals darted and the fun part was definitely being able to take part in the process, getting a feel of how heavy the animals were and being able to feel a wild cape buffalo.

Releasing the captured buffaloes in the bomas

 It did get tiring after some time though and once the containment units were filled up, the trucks began their way back to where the buffalo would be housed at ADDO maincamp, the Bomas. The process was rather seamless and the animals released to their new enclosure within a few hours of capture.

The day was not over for us and once the buffalo capture ended, it was time to do some fence patrolling. The volunteer group split up once again with a few of us heading off to the same location. This was an entirely new thing for me as well and I learnt that fence patrolling is essential in maintaining the integrity of the fences especially the electrical properties.

Prickly pear past the fencing

Sometimes there would be a short circuit due to various reasons and checking the power at various points along the fence ensured the fences were still animal proof. After a few hours of fence patrolling and before returning back, I learnt of a local favorite of elephants and humans, the prickly pear plant, also an alien species, non native to the lands.Tomorrow was game capture once again but using a chopper this time round and I was looking forward to this once more.

 It had been a fruitful day.