Fun filled week

Isiolo

What a fun filled week!

So Monday we headed off to Samburu.  We were going to see a Grevy’s zebra and an elephant. 

You can definitely feel the temperature change as you go down in altitude.  When preparing for Samburu, I always pack extra water.  I was drinking lots of water on the way down in preparation for the heat. 

Thanks Mum and Dad for an awesome water bottle.  Mum note the Emergen-C! 

We arrived in Samburu National Park and made our way to where the Grevy’s were.  The Grevy’s Trust was there to show us which Grevy’s zebra we were working with.  Our goal was to remove the tracking collar from one female, and place another tracking collar on another female. 

Disoriented Grevy's bumps into our car

Mutinda successfully darted the first Grevy’s zebra.  She was reluctant to go down.  She went down, and we all jumped out the vehicle to work on her.  Suddenly she stood back up.  She was very disoriented and walked into our truck and bumped into it.  The guards ran over and put a towel over her eyes and were able to pull her to the ground.  I moved into action very quickly.  I placed eye lube and monitored respirations, they removed the collar, I drew blood for diagnostics if needed and also to get a supply of healthy Grevy’s blood so we can get the normal values for a healthy Grevy’s, and we poured water on her to help keep her from overheating.  And the antidote was in.  She was down for a total of 4 minutes.  Exhilarating. 

Removing the Tracking Collar

 Mathenge repositioned the car so we could then immobilize the second Grevy’s.  The dart was successful and she collapsed to the ground very quickly.  

We ran over and performed the same procedure; Tim took bloods, the Grevy’s team placed her tracking collar, we poured water on her, I monitored respirations and put eye lube in her eyes.   And the antidote was in.  She woke up well, but was unsure of what was around her neck.  She bucked and ran around for a few minutes whilst the rest of the herd looked at her. 

After working with Grevy’s with EB and Katie in 2012, it has been so wonderful to be able to work with a few of them whilst here on this trip. 

And we were off, no rest for the vet!  We drove deeper into Samburu National Reserve and found the team that was locating the elephant we were going to be placing a tracking collar on.  The elephants had gone out of sight, and he was searching desperately for them!  We made our way to the Save the Elephants headquarters to have lunch and to wait for the elephant to be found.  It was lovely to sit and chat with the Save the Elephants team. 

An onlooker

I must describe their toilet.  It is an outside hut, which has a view of the river.  So you widdle while watching the river.  This time, there was a bull elephant on the other side of river.  I literally thought to myself “I am widdling in Africa, watching an elephant walk through the river.”  I think there was an oddly large smile on my face when I left the toilet. 

Administering Eye Lube

The elephant was found, in her herd of about 30.  We slowly crept in with the truck and Mutinda successfully immobilized her.  She walked around for about 5 minutes, and then gracefully (as gracefully as an elephant looks) sunk to the ground.  We were on the ground.  I was pulling her trunk straight and placing a twig in the opening of her nares.  I ran around back of her and sprayed antibiotic spray on the dart wound.  I poured some more water on her.  I went and applied eye lube to her eyes.  The eye lube adds moisture to the eye and helps protects the eye from the hot sun.  I went back to hold her trunk straight, as she kept trying to curl it up.  Others were placing her tracking collar, taking measurements of her, pouring more water on her, and Tim was taking bloods.  Suddenly we were done.  She was standing one minute after the antidote was given.  We watched her try to shake and pull her tracking collar off with her trunk.  I wonder what animals think when they awake with a tracking device around their necks.  They get used to it fairly quickly, but the first moments that they feel it is interesting to watch. 

Keeping her airway open 

What a day! 

On the way to find the elephant, we had taken a slight detour to examine a bush that was reported to have a lion cub in it.  This was the bush where the Lioness that was killed by a snake bite was found.  We were sure that it was her cub that we had not been able to locate.  We slowly drove around and around the bush, but saw no signs of any lion cub.  On our way back out of Samburu National Reserve, we took a second look at the bush.  Mike, a guard, hopped out of the car and had a closer look.  She was in there!  I was only able to see a small amount of movement, but she was there!  The sun was going down, and we had no way to transport her, so we made a plan to come back in the morning. 

Baby lion feet

So Tuesday morning we head off with a plan to capture a lion cub.  The truck was filled with a chainsaw to clear the brush, netting to try and contain the cub if she ran, a box to transport her in, and various other things.  We made it back to the bush where she was seen and I slipped on my leather gloves.  Mutinda asked me to squeeze in the bush to grab her.  In I went.  As I approached, she kept her eyes fixed on me and slightly moved backwards.  This movement was just enough for Mike, the guard, on the other side of the bush to grab her!  We had her!  A 4-6 week old cub, dehydrated, and skinny, but we had her! I have such respect for her.  She has survived 2 weeks by herself.  She does not know how to hunt.  How she is alive is beyond me! 

We gave her a quick inspection and decided to put her in the box so we could get her out of the hot Samburu sun.  And we were off again, back to Lewa!  It all happened so fast!  We had expected much more of a “bonanza” as Mutinda put it! 

We stopped off in Isiolo to buy a liver for her.  We knew she is mainly still nursing from her mother, but we wanted to offer a bit more.  I even bought a baby bottle to be able to try and nurse her.

So much respect for this fierce little girl!

The plan was for her to stay at Lewa for a few days to recuperate and then go off to a new home.  However, once back at Lewa, we were able to place her into a new sanctuary, so we head off to Nanyuki to deliver a lion cub.

Now as far as directions speaking: Lewa to Samburu 1.5 hours both ways and Lewa to Nanyuki is 1 hour both ways.  We were in the car a lot yesterday!  But we made it to Nanyuki and delivered a scared, wild, lion cub.  It was a wonderful close to a story. 

This morning I awoke to the calls of lions.  What an utterly amazing sound that sends chills through my body.  Today I am working in the lab on my samples.  My time here in Africa is coming to an end.  I wonder what other adventures I will experience before heading back to England.