An endangered species experience to Zululand, KwaZulu Natal in January 2022 by Maddy and Mia
This is our daily rundown of what we got up to
Travel to SA
- Travel from London to Joburg and then to Durban
- The flight was quite long and we had a bit of a layover in Joburg but we managed to get quite a lot of sleep and so it went quite quickly
- Drive from Durban to ZRO
- A long drive but after the rest of the travel it felt quite quick
- It was really nice to see some of SA during the drive
Week 1
- Orphanage
- Duties at the orphanage consisted of:
- Feeding Leko 4 times a day
- 06:30, 11:00, 15:30, 20:00
- This was by far the most special part of the trip – being able to bottle feed a rhino is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we will never forget
- Cleaning Lekos boma, sleeping area and water trough
- Letting him out into the bigger boma at the start of the day and bringing him in in the afternoon/evening
- Feeding the hippos
- Charlie requires medication so they are both handfed pellets in order to give him the medication
- Feeding mystique
- The antipoaching dog at the orphanage
- Feeding Leko 4 times a day
- We were able to go into Lekos boma to spend time with him and encourage him to walk around in the outside section
- We also spent a lot of time spraying him with the hose to encourage mud bathing
- We also had to weigh Leko once a week
- This was quite tricky as you had to get him to stand still on the scales
- He usually got quite impatient as he wanted his milk
- This was quite tricky as you had to get him to stand still on the scales
- Duties at the orphanage consisted of:
- Rhino Dehorning
- This was an incredible experience
- This was on a black rhino calf
- We watched the helicopter go up to dart the rhino and we were lucky in that the rhino went down in the road
- We were able to get hands on and involved in sampling and any other small tasks that needed to be done
- We were also lucky enough to get the chance to ride in the helicopter afterwards
- This was only a short journey but it was super special
- Wild dog feed
- These were 4 male wild dogs that were being held for another reserve
- We were able to watch them being fed 2-3 times each week
- There was also daily boma checks that we were able to go on some days
- The boma checks were to make sure the fence was intact and working and check that all 4 dogs were ok and also make sure there were no lion or other predator tracks around the edge
- There was also daily boma checks that we were able to go on some days
- The first couple of feeds the grass was really long and so we could only see the dogs when they were jumping – this was really cool to see how they coped with the long grass
- The later feeds the grass had been cut so we were able to see more of the dogs and see them feeding on the carcass
- The freshly cut grass attracted a lot of birds and so we saw vultures, maribu storks, kites and many more
- Pangolin walk
- This was such a rare opportunity as you would never normally see pangolins in the wild
- The pangolin we walked with was a young adult male that was in soft release due to being rescued from the illegal wildlife trade
- He was weighed every day before and after his walks
- We were able to gets hands on in order to weigh him
- Once he reaches a certain weight he will be released fully and monitored
- During the walks we followed him around as he searched for food and ate
- Usually for about 3-4 hours
- During these walks we were out in the bush and it was quite thrilling
- Wildlife Act
- 3 times a week we went out with Wildlife Act
- Wildlife Act is a Non-Profit Organisation that monitors and tracks priority species on reserves.
- We had the opportunity to go Saturday and Sunday mornings (setting off at 4:30am) and Wednesday afternoons
- Most of the time we were tracking the recently released orphaned rhinos or following up on sightings of other priority species
- These drives were when we had most of our sightings
- Lions, hyenas, elephants, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, impala, kudu, wildebeest, nyala, warthogs, black-backed jackal, white rhino, vultures, monkeys
- The animals were tracked via telemetry if they had a collar on
- We were able to have a go at pinpointing the direction of the signal
- This was super tricky as even being off by a few degrees can send you in a different direction when at long range
- We were able to have a go at pinpointing the direction of the signal
- Animals were also tracked via spore and other animals behaviour
- 3 times a week we went out with Wildlife Act
- Bush clearing
- We spent a couple of hours clearing alien vegetation from Lekos outside boma
- This was a very difficult task as it was very hot and sweaty and the bushes were very spiky
- We had to take regular breaks and a lot of water was required
Week 2
- Releasing cheetahs
- The reserve aquired two new male cheetahs that are not brothers so they have to be bomad for a while in order to create a bond between them
- This bond is needed to better the cheetahs survivals chances against other predators
- We were able to help carry the travel containers into the boma and watch as the cheetahs were released
- This was incredible as they were super fast and it was out first cheetah sighting
- These cheetahs were very wild and we had to spend a lot of time habituating them to the presence of vehicles and people
- This was quite tricky as all they wanted to do was hide
- We also got involved in feeding the cheetahs 2-3 times per week
- Unlike with the wild dogs there often wasn’t much to see as the cheetahs hid at the other side of the boma
- There was also daily boma checks that we were able to be a part of as well
- The reserve aquired two new male cheetahs that are not brothers so they have to be bomad for a while in order to create a bond between them
- Rhino Sample Organisation
- We spent one morning organising all of the rhino samples and resalting them.
- This took a lot of time but it was really cool to look through the different samples and see how old some of them were
- Community Food Drop
- This was a food drop we did alongside the SA rugby legends with help from the charities SA Harvest and The Domino Foundation
- We spent a lot of time packing up the trucks with all the food before we were able to set off
- Driving to the different communities was really cool as were up in the hills and it was very scenic and pretty
- We went to 4 different communities and dropped off 40 sets of food at each
- Everyone we met in the communities was so happy and thankful for all that the reserve and the ZCT was doing for them
- It was a very tiring day in the sun moving heavy bags of maize and potatoes but all the effort was worth it to help the local communities
- Sunday Morning – the craziest morning
- Rhino Dehorning
- This was our second dehorning
- This happened to be on the mother of the black rhino calf we had done last week
- We were super lucky to see another black rhino
- Unfortunately she went down in some very thick bush and so we had to fight through in order to get to her
- It was really cool to see the team working in a different environment and still getting everything done just as well as before
- Investigating a wildebeest calf
- One of the lodges on the reserve had reported there was a wildebeest calf with a broken back that had been struggling to stand for multiple days
- After seeing the calf, the management decided the best plans to end its suffering and use the carcass to feed the cheetahs in the boma
- Feeding the cheetahs
- Whilst we were hanging the carcass up in the cheetah boma, the cheetahs began to come over to us – which was super strange as they were very skittish
- After leaving the boma we realised it was because there was a family of 7 lions along the fence line
- Lions can cause a huge problem for bomad animals as they can stress them out and cause them to try to escape
- We had to chase the lions off by scaring them with the vehicle until they had moved far enough away from the boma
- All of this was done before 10am
- This just shows how unpredictable and crazy the day to day life on the reserve can be
- After a hard morning we went out with the team for a meal
- This was really nice chance to chat and relax (and eat some good food)
- Rhino Dehorning
Week 3
- Painting
- We spent a couple of days painting the creche (primary school) in the local community
- This was lovely because our paintings will last within the community for many years
- It was quite a messy process and we ruined lots of clothes LOL
- It was a really nice chance to do something different and see another side of conservation
- It was also nice to talk and get to know some of the members of the local community
- Cultural Experience
- We had the chance to help test a new cultural experience
- We went out into one of the communities and ate some traditional zulu food and saw traditional zulu houses
- This was really nice to be involved and see some of the zulu culture
- Working with Mike the Vet
- Cheetah relocation
- This was on a different reserve
- They had a cheetah that had been hand reared and was hunting ok but when shed been moved to this reserve, she stopped hunting and had backed herself into a corner with no game
- We watched Mike dart the cheetah and then helped move her onto the vehicle and place a drip
- We then rode in the back of the cruiser with her
- This was a very bumpy ride
- Mia was tasked with monitoring if the cheetah was waking up
- Maddy was tasked with monitoring and holding the drip
- We then watched a little bit of the cheetah waking up but this can be quite a long process and so we didn’t stay until she was fully functioning
- But someone else did (she was not left alone)
- Rhino post mortems
- This was quite a horrific day
- 2 rhinos on a different reserve had been poached for their horns
- The point of the post mortem was to recover the bullets for forensic investigations
- The smell was the most horrific thing that we had EVER experienced
- Cheetah relocation
- Mongoose
- One of the lodges had found two baby mongoose that had been abandoned
- They couldn’t find the mother anywhere
- We helped feed them and look after them for a day before they were transferred to a rescue facility
- One of the lodges had found two baby mongoose that had been abandoned
- Staying at the lodge
- We were kindly gifted by TEP a night at lovely lodge
- This was such an incredible experience and a great way to end our trip
- We had some AMAZING food and went on two game drives
- All the staff were so welcoming and friendly
- Last meal
- We went out on the very last night for a nice meal with some of team
- This was a lovely way to say bye to everyone
Travel Home
- This was a super long journey (32 hours in total)
- We were thankful to finally be home but super sad to have left ☹
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