Page 25 - Chiron Autumn/Winter 2023

last two remaining northern white rhinos in the world. We basically had a free safari, spotting zebras, elephants, and buffalo, before taking a break to vaccinate two German Shepherds and a cat. We saw even more wildlife on our way back – including giraffes and rhinos – stopping briefly to meet Barak the blind rhino, who happily posed for photos while we fed him.
The following day was our first opportunity to actually treat injured Kenyan wildlife.
We missed it. Our vehicle broke down outside the guardroom
in Nyati Barracks and the vet from the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) couldn’t wait for us to get
a replacement (understandable).
So we went for iced coffee and milkshakes, moped a bit about missing the rhino and hoped we might get a chance to see a different one (and then felt bad about hoping for an injured rhino).
Luckily, we only had to wait a couple of days before getting a phone call from the KWS, asking
if we wanted to go and see a sick bongo (it’s a type of antelope). This was a mountain bongo, named Vivian, who was suffering from
a tick-borne disease that caused fever and pneumonia, with the added complication that she was heavily pregnant. With mountain bongos being critically endangered, the team at the Mt Kenya Wildlife Conservancy, where she lived, were keen to make sure she received treatment and that it was done with as minimal risk to the unborn calf as possible.
needed. It was impressive to watch and a few minutes later everything was done, the sedative was wearing off and we backed away. After a few more minutes, Vivian was on her feet and off on her way. We later learnt that she gave birth to a live calf the next day.
Our second call out with the KWS was to a leopard in Dol Dol, which was coincidentally where the rest of
This meant
that as soon
as she went down from the darted sedation, the reversal
“Turns out, the only thing wrong with this leopard was that it was eating a local farmer’s goats and he wasn’t very happy about it.”
the HARAKA SERPENT
team were giving medical treatment that day (and they had mixed feelings about the idea that there were wild
was eating the goats was because
it was old or ill. It wasn’t, it just
saw an easy meal. So, the leopard had to go, which meant catching
it (thankfully done before we got there) and checking it over (which
is where we came in) before it could then be moved. We were working with a leopard preservation group on this one, so once the leopard
was sedated, they took various measurements (from its body length to its canine teeth length) and we took various samples (blood, faeces, tick, fur, and tissue from its ear tip). The leopard was then put back into the cage before we reversed the
was being
administered.
They had a big
team assembled, with one person restraining her head (bongos have
a good pair of horns), someone administering oxygen, one vet giving medications while another drew blood and a handful of other people there to pass and take things as
leopards in the area). Turns out, the only thing wrong with this leopard was that it was eating a local farmer’s goats and he wasn’t very happy about it. Of course, we didn’t know that initially and there were some concerns that the reason the leopard
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