Game Capture of Cape Buffalo using the chopper

The day started slightly later today thanks to predictions of a slightly cooler day. The capture team would be using a chopper today for darting the buffalo as compared to driving around like yesterday. The advantage of this would be that buffaloes could be captured from parts of the park which might otherwise be inaccessible or hard to reach by road.

The rest of us were driven to a waiting point and asked to wait there while the chopper did the rest, darting as well as transporting the captured buffalo to where we were so that they could be moved to the containment units. Today was mostly a waiting game and scanning the horizon to see the chopper coming in with a buffalo.

This was the exciting part as once the chopper came, the buffalo being carried would be released and we would repeat the same procedure as yesterday, quickly carrying the buffalo onto a bakkie and moving it to a containment unit. The buffaloes darted were blindfolded to minimize the trauma of the air-lift and their tongues placed at the side to prevent choking, just like the day before.

Once loaded off, the chopper crew would set off once again to the site of the herd and capture another buffalo to be brought back. It was interesting to see how gently the pilot lowered the buffalo when returning to minimize any injury to the animal and it was definitely fun to move in to the animal in spite of the dust blowing around thanks to the spinning rotors of the chopper above.

The highlight of the day was when a calf was captured  together with the mother. I learnt that even a calf of that size was stronger then a man and it was quickly reunited with its mother. All the buffaloes captured on that day were fine and the vet constantly checked on them to make sure all was good.

Most of the volunteers spent our time peeping into the containment unit, watching the captured buffaloes moving about. They were still somewhat in a dazed state but recovery was fast. After a few more captures, it was time to return back to base-camp and release the captured animals in the bomas.

The rest of the day was spent repairing some fences near a water pump which had been breached by hyenas. It was surprising to hear that the hyenas had chewed off parts of the pump, causing it to not function. Volunteers helped in repairing the fences as well as removing overgrown shrub and branches around the fencing.

 It was rather reassuring that the rangers always remained in close proximity and we were not allowed to wander far as the dangers of being attacked by wild animals were real. The rangers also carried loaded rifles to be used in case of emergencies and we had been briefed always on staying close to the bakkie or the rangers. Thankfully for us, the only visitor while we were working was a wart-hog and we left after finishing the work back to main camp.

It had been an eventful day.

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