Kudu Capture

This week we are capturing Kudu.
Although we started out with the idea of catching only Kudu we soon learnt that we were also doing Eland, Blue Wildebeest, and Blesbuck.
This is because:

• There are too many of them
  
• There is too little feed to get them through the winter

Other reasons as to why we would want to capture and relocate Kudu are:

• The population although not too high is pushing out other animals that brows on the same height/level
• the need to gather funds for sustainability
• the need to get a new gene pool onto the specific area
• genetic or other diseases that could spread to other animals such as rabies and Foot and Mouth disease.

How are we going about it?:

1. First we had a briefing where we were told about the basics as why how when and where this is going to take place
2. we quickly went through the basic process of how to and found out who our Superiors were.
3. we layed out the wires two by two in a cone shape moving open as it went away from the loading truck.
4. then we established where we would put up the poles that would be outline of the boma they are more or less twenty paces apart
5. we put them in by planting a short iron and then sliding the longer pole( about three meters high) over it. this pole then has two loops at the top and at the bottom into which we hook the cable. We must first hook in the cable because it is hard to try and do it after plbanting the pole. This forms a line running on the ground and a line running in the air.
6. onto this we then with wire tie a sail at the top and the bottom that will act as a curtain which we close as soon as the animals are in.
7. the curtains that are not opened and closed are secured for in case the Kudu runs into the side.
8. the others are pulled together(open) and then coverd in branches to hide them so that it doesn't look like a foreign object to them. ( this is tied on with wires)
9. there are four lines running in between like so...there are four of them one after the other(notice curtain-dark green-just below the horizon)
   
10. We need to cut trees and stomp grass out of the way of the line in which the sail runs to ensure a smooth and fast run.

What happens before?
Before we even knew about the capturing the conservation people on the farm had to do a couple of things such as field assessment where they have a good look at the trees and woodlands to establish how much food there is for the Kudu to eat. To do this they have to know what kind of trees they eat from how many of the trees there are, what ages the Kudu are and how many of them there are.



Safety regulations and equipment:

• Gloves
• goggles
• appropriate shoes
• correct clothing (long pants)

1. no wires must lie in the boma area because it can hurt the animals if they tangle into it.
2. if anything is tied with wire we must make sure that the ends are hidden or bent away.
3. no tools must lie where either us or the animals can trip over them.
   

Process of Capturing

1. The helicopter first goes and locates the kudu.
2. he ten starts chasing them towards the open end of the boma.
3. as soon as they are in he presses a hooter that informs the first curtain to close
4. once this is done he proceeds to chasing them to the next curtain and again as soon as they are past the curtain he hoots and then the curtains are closed
5. there are four curtains each being pulled closed as mentioned above.
6. when they are past your curtain you must make a noise and wave your arms to chase them.
7. As soon as they are in the truck the door gets closed.

When they are in the truck

1. The amount of animals is recorded and written down
2. the general condition of the animals assessed
3. the male female ratio is established
4. as well as the adult juvenile and teenager ratio is also established.
   

Upkeep of Infrastructure

This week we are clearing and cleaning the bicycle trail that will be used in the mountainbikeing weekend this comming saturday.
We have to make sure that:

• Ther are no branches hanging in the road from above (because cyclists tend to stand when they go through a particularly difficult patch)
  
• There are no branches stuckning into the road from the sides.
• That there are no old stumps in the road (from previosly chopped down trees) that can dammage tires or cause a serios injury if a cyclist falls.
• That all the Aarvark holes are closed up.
• That all the ruts caused by the constant use of the roads by Quads are filled and scraped.
• That there are no thorns in the road.

We are also makking a new road in between two koppies for a more scenic route. This is so much more work, we have to:

• Map out the new route just above or just below the rocky ridge that runs between the koppies (this is becuase there is more veggetaation on the ridge but just below or above it there is less vegetation)
• Log the GPS coordinates so that we can find the route again later.
• Walk the new route to familiarise ourselfs with it.
• going along the route and clearing chopping brushcutting and cleaning as we go along so that we dont have to backtrack later.

Equiptment we are using:

• Rakes-toremove thorns that fell on the road after chopping.
• Pangas-top chop away branches ahead and to the sides.
• Axes-to chop big branches and trees that are in the way as well as the stumps of previosly chopped trees that are in the road.
• Shovels-to fill ruts and holes
• Brushcutters-to cut grass and shrubs.

Safety equiptment we are using:

• Goggles
• Gloves
• Shin protection

Errosion and grass

We went with Cobus and the second years so they can teach us how to do a basic field assessment. We did this at the spring buck flats.
I learnt that grasses have a score that puts in one a couple of things like their ecological factor, their succession stage and the nourishment that they can give your animals.
What we did was walk in a direction counting steps then every 10 steps we would record the grass that we are standing on, we did this in three groups so that we could get a good idea of the grasses that are found on the flats. What it came down to was that there is primarily Fox tail Buffalo grass.
I learnt that fox tail buffalo grass is a really good grass overall scoring a 10/10 overall. It is a really nutritious grass, a Climax grass and a good topsoil erosion preventer.
We learnt that the flats are actually in really good condition they are simply over grazed.