Quick note: we just saw some black impala while driving. I guess they are pretty rare!
11:22 am (SA)
Brendan darted a white rhino from the helicopter at a reserve called Samara today. We got to watch the capture team place microchips in both horns as well as behind the rhino's ear (this enables autorities to trace the horns back to a specific rhino/reserve in the case of poaching and black market trade). Brendan took blood for DNA testing and also gave preventative penicillin in the dart wound and applied fly spray.
After Brendan reversed the sedative, the capture team worked to get the rhino up so he could walk himself to the waiting truck. Let's face it, no one wants to carry a full grown rhino! Once he was loaded, we all got to climb up on the truck and touch him! His skin was so rough and dry!
4:38 pm (SA)
We went out searching for the 3 male sub-adult lions again. Brendan will try to dart the one that sustained the most injuries so that we can examine him and put a tracking collar on him. Jonty found me a porcupine quill while we were out looking too! I hope I can get it home in one piece!
Brendan darted the young male as well as the older female with the 2 young cubs. Our land rover followed the female. We had to chase off the other 2 sub-adults (her sons) that weren't darted as well has her adorable 3 month old cubs. Once we made sure they were a safe distance away, we got out and rolled her onto a tarp and lifted her into the back of a truck. She weighed roughly 200-300 lbs and I was in charge of her head, which was super heavy!!! I then got to ride all the way back to the compund with her in the back of the truck! It was probably the best experience of my entire life! I was sitting in a truck holding a lioness' head!!! Those who were riding in the land rover behind the truck later told me how tiny I looked compared to the large lion! Her paws were gigantic as was everything else about her! I was literally shaking with adrenaline when I got off the truck! The other group followed the injured sub-adult male and cleaned up his wounds and put a tracking collar on him so that they could monitor him for the next few days. When they got back to the garage at the compound where we had the lioness, we started prepping her for surgery. Peter planned on spaying her. I guess last year, another team of vets attempted to tie her tubes, but obviously with 2 young cubs, the procedure was unsuccessful! Unfortunately, Peter was unable to complete the surgery. There were 3 radio tracking devices free-floating in her abdomen that had caused a build-up of fibrous tissue that had somehow fused her uterus to her kidneys! In order to spay her, he would have needed to open her up further to visualize the vasculature and make sure she didn't bleed out, but we were definitely in a less than sterile environment, so he and Brendan just closed her up and will dart her again in the future and place a slow-release birthcontrol microchip in her.
The surgery took about 2.5 hours (and she was under anesthesia for even longer). There were 2 really scary moments during this awesome procedure though. Peter had his hands in her abdomen when all of a sudden, she started growling and moving her front paws!!! I grabben onto her left hind leg because Brendan put me in charge of making sure the catheterized vein remained patent and open so that he had access to it at all times! Knowing that this was the fastest way to get her back under anesthesia, I held on with all my might and pulled her leg out so that there was direct access! It was a heart-stopping experience! The second time she started waking up, we were a bit more prepared and she didn't get the chance to move around as much as the first time when we thought she might come up off the table! What a rush!!! After driving the lioness back to the area where we picked her up, we finished the evening with a late dinner of partially burnt lasagna (due to the fact that the chef had been out with us watching the surgery) and a game of Uno with Colleen, Meagan, and Dr. Dani Graham (a Mizzou alumni who works for Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus). We were fuddy duddies and decided to stay at the house while the others went out to go check on the female lions recovery. And now, it's time for bed!
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