Assesment for care for captive animals

Yesterday morning we wrote our exam about Species care in a controlled environment. The exam went really well.
Myself and PG also did our Practical assessments which was at the wildlife centre were we had to explain all sorts of things like animal behavior, feeding times, safety hazards, and feeding behaviors.
We had to feed the new giraffe. When you feed an animal that is new to human interaction you have to first get it used to the bottle. To feed this giraffe I had to stock my finger in her mouth so that i could play with her tongue this encourages her to swallow by herself. I had to also squeeze the milk int her mouth because she is not used to sucking from the bottle teet yet. She spat out the bottle and pulled away quite violently,she did this because i tasted funny or at least different from the hands that she has become slightly accustomed to. I probably tasted like perfumed spray because i had used it not long before. Washing my hands would have been better but because we all have different scents i think she would still have refused me feeding her.

Rhino Behavior

Because of their bulk rhinos can move forward easily but not really turn, the full grown ones will shove you from the side. Very young rhinos are much more mobile than the adults but at about one year of age (like Safrina) they already struggle to turn.
With this info we have learnt that when you working with specifically Safrina you simply keep on her one side with your hand by her hump this way you are not in her horn's reach and at the same time you notice any movement from her immediately. Dina being a little smaller you can still to a certain extent shove away from you when she gets naughty.
Safrina has been weened completely now but because Dina still gets milk and because she is more comfortable (White rhinos are very social animals) eating with Safrina in the vicinity, we give Safrina warm water when we feed Dina so that she doesn't try to steal Dina's food.

Lion behavior

I have learnt that when working with lions that they are very set on dominance, and who holds the ace cars at any given time.
If you appear too large for them the automatically give over that dominance to you. This does apply to the lions that we have in the wildlife centre but not to the wild ones. But they will attack or in some way retaliate if shoved into a corner. It is good to fear them but you must not show them that you are afraid because they can literally smell the fear. One thing that must always be in the back of your head when working with any wild animal is that it is just that, a wild anima,l with natural instincts that are always under the surface no matter how well you think you have oppressed them.

Captive animal care

The past two weeks we have been learning about the in and outs of Caring for animals in captivity.
We learnt reasons as to why we might want to have animals in captivity.

• they have been injured
• they are endangered and need protection.
• they have been abandoned
• they are being used in a breading program
• there is little information about the animal and it needs to be studied.

we learnt how an animals social behavior affects how you handle it in captivity.

• very social animals will be put with other animals preferably of its own kind.
• young animals need a nursing animal such as a sheep who are docile.
• nervous animals need lots of peace and quiet and a corner for them to retreat into.
  
• aggressive animals need an escape route for the keepers...

We learnt about feeding habit, sleeping patterns and nocturnal habits. That we must never go into the cage of an animal that we are not familiar with. That there is only one handler per animal. That you must never go into a cage without someone knowing that you are there, especially with thing like lions, here you shouldn't go in alone either.

It is important to report on your feeding sessions. this means that you must after feeding go to your supervisor and tell him/her how it went

• did the animal eat?
• how much did they eat?
• how does their poop look?
• did they like the food?

Rhino Capture for Relocation

On Wednesday the 5th of May I was given together with six other students from Sondela the chance to help capture Rhinos. We helped capture four white rhinos; a bull two cows and a calf. the process went as follows:

• the vet prepared the darts beforehand
• he also made sure that there was enough fuel in the helicopter
  
• he then locates the rhinos with a helicopter
• then he informs the truck driver where the rhinos are
• when the truck is close enough the vet darts the rhino with a sleeping muti
  
• as soon as the rhino lies down we run to put a blindfold on the rhino this helps the rhino keep calm. rhinos stress easily and that can cause them to overheat
• we pour water over the rhino to help keep its body temperature down
  
• and a wake-up muti is injected
• the rhino is then inspected for any injuries it might have sustained in the fall
  
• we tie a rope around its snout just behind the horn (a thick rope)
  
• and another on the one hind leg (they call this the break rope)
• then carefully the rhino is lead into the truck this in itself is a series of steps
• one or two people take the front rope and move in the direction of the truck opening pulling all the while
• someone is on the "break rope" to prevent the rhino from moving too fast and hurting itself or the people handling it
  
• the rest have to help heave the rhino onto its legs and then support it while it stumbles to the truck.
  

We had to be really fast. The ground was sopping wet and made running really difficult, but run we had to. The whole process had to go super fast because the sooner the rhino is calm the less chance there is for something to go wrong.

Even though this it only one of the many animals I will need to learn to capture I still learnt so much. The importance of the animals well being for example, you need to know the age of the rhino (or which ever animal you are capturing) the age really affects the way the animal reacts to everything; the darting,the closeness to humans, the noise level, and if they are really small, the parent. The next thing is the animal size; this is one of the factors used to determine the age of the animal, and also the measurement as to how much sedative etc.- you need to inject into the animal. You need to know the history of the animal, is this the first time this animal is being relocated?
When the animal has been caught we check weather it has a micro identification chip, if it doesn't have one, then one is inserted by the vet into the hump. The number on the chip is then recorded and registered on an international database.The White gadget is the chip reader.

The differences between a White rhino and a Black rhino. The White rhino has a very prominent hump and the Black rhino hasn't. The Black rhino has a pointed tip at the end of its front top lip this is used-much in the same way an elephant uses its trunk-for ripping off leaves and green twigs from trees and shrubs. The White rhinos name is derived from the Dutch word "wyd" which means "wide". This is because it is a grazer the wide mouth making it easier to munch off grass. And last but not least the White rhino is much larger than the black rhino.