http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/ Agnerd in Africa Fri, 25 May 2007 14:35:01 PDT http://www.blogdrive.com Copyright 2007. Agriculture Ecology http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/57.html Fri, 25 May 2007 19:31:48 GMT Today was planned around Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre and then a visit to a cheetah breeding facility. First, though, we had to feed our new addition the baby giraffe. Since I'd had an attempt to feed her last night, I just stood by while others took their turns. She is, however, extremely friendly and wanting contact so we all got to cuddle a bit and play with her. It's so cool to see a newborn that's bigger than I am... We got to the rehabber fairly early, and received a talk from one of the workers there about how close to a crash the ecosystem is and some of the things that can... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=57 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/56.html Thu, 24 May 2007 20:32:28 GMT Today was our trip to Kruger National Park. We woke up early waiting to hear word of a sick young giraffe on a nearby farm. However, this turned into (yet another :p) lesson of the "hurry up and wait" philosophy of game capture. They never could find the little bugger, so we just shrugged and headed off to the park. It's roughly the size of Israel and home to a ton of various species, with no hunting and little enough direct interaction with the critters. We started off pretty quickly, with a bunch of vervet monkeys at the gate, a family of warthog and a young and lonely looking bull... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=56 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/55.html Thu, 24 May 2007 20:14:30 GMT Our day started early, at Mauricedale. It's the largest breeding farm for wildlife in the Southern Hemisphere, and we saw exactly why later on. We were greeted on the drive in by several ostrich, and zebra mingling with tame horses wandering around on the lawns. Our mission, already accepted whether we liked it or not, was to go into the "garden" (an area larger than some sports stadiums) and retrieve 1 male and three female soenie (pronounced sue-knee). The plan was to set up a net starting at a fence on one side, go up to the top area and run down screaming to drive the critters into the... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=55 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/54.html Tue, 22 May 2007 17:00:50 GMT We started Tuesday very early, heading off to a farm to try and catch some zebra in an area where they liked to wander into a fenced zone. Of course, this night, they weren't in there. So we found them in a field besides some wildebeest and blesbuck. Louie, Johan, and the owner of the place (a Macadamia nut plantation) started shooting. Louie and the owner darted theirs immediately, while Johan was a bit delayed. We watched the one mare stagger and go down, and then jumped on her to blindfold and such while waiting for the stallion, who took forever. Meanwhile, Johan darted his with an... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=54 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/53.html Tue, 22 May 2007 16:49:29 GMT The day started early in the bakkie (pickup truck, pronounced bucky). We all piled in while Louie and Johan went off to dart the herd bull wildebeest on Cobus's farm. The idea was to take him with us when we went later to move a Nyala, and leave the wildebeest at the other farm. As it turned out, neither of those things happened. Louie and Johan approached the herd twice, and both times they were sighted or winded and the critters tore off into tougher areas. Johan later told us that they'd tried just about everything to get that bull, but would have to wait until they started feeding... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=53 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/52.html Tue, 22 May 2007 16:38:48 GMT Sunday was our day to be relatively relaxed from the crazy pace that game capture tends to set. We had breakfast at the advanced hour of 8:30 and then headed out to see what we could see. Our first stop was at a small town that's basically an enclave for artists and other like minded folks. It was in SA's wild horse country, so we got to see a few of those roaming the streets too. It was a really nice little place, with plenty of crafts shops and bed/breakfasts centered on the horses. Sadly, there wasn't any thing like the souvenirs from the roadside stand we'd seen the week before. As... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=52 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/51.html Sun, 20 May 2007 07:14:23 GMT Dr. Leon Prozesky came out from the veterinary faculty in Pretoria to discuss various bits of wildlife pathology and some case studies with us. We spoke a lot about forensic pathology and things that could eventually end in court cases or, in the case of a lot of expensive animals, insurance settlements. There was also a necropsy later in the afternoon. Louie, one of our guides/Cobus's employees, used to be a professional hunter and guide before coming to work in conservation, which he vastly prefers. So he shot an impala since they have too many on the farm here and we had a go at it. I... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=51 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/50.html Fri, 18 May 2007 20:46:45 GMT But she was nice, and gave it back. All three times. Anyhow, we left Ohrigstad after packing up the camping gear and saying good bye to our adoring Peanut. We headed up the road to a place where they collect elephants who were destined to be culled (overpopulation is a huge issue) and train them for education and anti-poaching operations. It turns out that elephants smell much, much better than dogs when tracking and can track over and through water. They also offer a much higher vantage point for officers riding them, and can generally scare the hell out of poachers on the ground. We... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=50 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/49.html Fri, 18 May 2007 20:33:38 GMT We went out on a two day trip with our main goal being to capture 10 Cape Buffalo, the number 1 killer of hunters in South Africa, so they could be sent to another reserve to improve genetic diversity. We were also going to microchip some rhino, but as it turned out that was not meant to be. We arrived at Ohrigstad Reserve and were greeted by members of the Mpumalanga district wildlife capture team, complete with mascot: the feared Bush Dachsund, a four month old pup named Peanut who went everywhere with us. We spent the first day building our Boma, a giant funnel shaped structure of... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=49 http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/archive/48.html Tue, 15 May 2007 17:08:30 GMT We started off the day with a lecture about the various animals we may/will see while we're here. A lot that we aren't going to work with directly will show up in Kruger while we're there, so it's handy to know ahead of time what to call them and what their habits may be. Our lecture was emphasized by Gladys, the friendly ostrich (she's blind in one eye and has adopted a worker here as her boyfriend... follows him around, sleeps outside his house, etc.). She wandered past the open-air lecture room while eating and poked her head in. Afterwards, she came around by the eating area and posed... (more) http://agnerd.blogdrive.com/comments?id=48