ACE- Shimongwe Vet Program - 2 Weeks

In the middle of my time in South Africa; have been having an amazing time.
Heres a write up of the things I have done so far...

• Day 1 - Tuesday: Arrive in Jo'Burg and driven to Bundox to settle in and meet the other volunteers.
• Day 2- Wednesday: Early start-5.30am. I help to move the impala from the bomas onto the trucks and witness the injections being done (wormer- dectomax). Once this is done we are off to the golf course to dart impala and nyala for a client. The general method is - locate, dart and relocate (if drug is effective the head is up, bend in back and swaying occurs), catch (blindfold, inject with reversal and wormer is necessary) and load. I injected the nyala and impala that needed it and practising checking that I hadnt hit a vein. We stayed at the golf course until after dark using the lamp catching the number of nyala and impala the client ordered. Went back to camp - freezing but full of adrenalin and ready for dinner of pumpkin soup and rolls.
• Day 3- Thursday: Should be going to Hoedspruit soon to catch rhino but theres been a problem with the permits. So we spent the day playing cards and kyakaing (but the water was freezing! although we still jumped in :) Meet Bundox resident cheetahs : Cockeye who is just like a big house cat and phineas who is still pretty wild! ) Had a dinner of spag bol and yorkshires around the fire.
• Day 4-Friday : Still no luck with the permits (Rhino permits are now hard to get as a few months ago a man illegally moved to rhinos and the truck overturned and they escaped so now all game capture teams must go through a long process to get permits and cannot write their own anymore. This shows how lack of communication between the capture teams and conservation africa has affected the day to day running of the game capture team. For the rest of the day we played cards and then went jet-skiing followed by a traditional braii. Hopefully of to Hoedspruit tomorrow if all goes well with the permits!
• Day 5- Saturday: Played cards and watched the cheetahs being fed - witnessed phineas' stalking behaviour (crouching, growling etc). Left for Hoedspruit today - although still no permits... Its a 4 hour drive through rolling hills and lovely lakes. Hope we get the permits soon!
• Day 6- Sunday: Up at 5 to go to Kreuger National park. I saw 4 of the big 5 (Lion, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo.) I havent seen a leopard in the wild yet! Also saw zebra, hippo, giraffe, impala, nyala, crocodile, bushbuck, ostrich, cudu, warthog, baboon, velevt monkeys and wilderbeast! We also visited the elephant museum today- it was so interesting! The size of the heart is amazing - Am now realising how so much came out of the elephant on C4 program filmed at the RVC! Got back at 7pm. Have 2 rhino permits but need 4 to be able to catch the rhinos!
• Day 7- Monday: Spent the day at a cheetah conservation project.We watched a film on the work of the project, how it has progressed etc. We went on a drive around the project and was edcutaed on all the animalos and their upkeep. We heard stories of; a rhino which was killed by poachers when they broke in, an elephant which was abandonned by the group and is now a working elephant and atiger resuced from a cage bareely the size of itself with woren and burnt away paws.
• Day 8- Tuesday: Up at 5.30 to help set up the bomas for the mass capture of impayla. We caught around 4 as we couldn't catch before due to the heat and the wind (if the wind is in the wrong direction the impayla can smell the humans.)
• Day 9-Wesneday: Set up boma for giraffe capture. We caught 5 giraffe; 2 adults and 3 calfs (one was released as we only needed 4 - it was a lovely sight to see the young giraffe run off into the bush). I asked to move to a different project tonight so I could hopefully see more veterinary work than I had been. Luckily there is 1 place avaliable in the whole of S.A just down the road :)
• Day 10-Thursday: Started this morning with Dr Rogers and a new group of volunteerrs at the nearby clinic. The first case was a rhino which had its head caught in wire - it was darted and the wire removed. We used Amphoprim (antibiotic), M99 (potent respiratory depressent- etorphine hydro-chloride) HR = 100---> 40 , Stresnil (azceperone), hyalase (enzyme that improves pentration of injection and speeds up rate at which drug is absorbed), Naltrxone (antidote to stop the rhino recyling the M99), M5050 (to reverse the M99). The 2nd case was a routine cat spay - the cat was prone to fits so no pre-med was given as it lowers their seizure threshold. In a pre-med there is normally ACP (sedative and Temgesic (pain releif). The 3rd case was a dog spay . The 4th was a daushand presenting signs: anorexia, weakness, sickness etc. At 1st they though it was a diaphragmatic hernia due to the abormal breathing and a previous car accident but when they opened him up there was no diagphram atall and the vet could put her hand straight onto the dogs heart. The dog was euthansised- it was likely to be congential. 5th Case: A jack russel with suspected hyena bites. He was given 2 antibitocs and put on a drip as he wasnt stong enopugh for an anesthetic yet. The next morning the anesthetic went ahread but on investiagtio the neck was an issue with suspected nerve and tendon damage - euthansiased. 6th Case: I was lucky enought the witness a PM on a cheetah which had just been euthanised. He had a thickening of the phylorus which had prevented any food getting thought as the lumen was so small - It was likely to be congential.
• Diagpagmatic Hernia: Often caused by an automobile accident- sudden increase in pressure results in a tear in the diagrham. Through the stethoscope intestinal sounds could be heard.