Weekend 27-28 August.

This is Duke. He is about six months old. Currently he eats 250 ml Calf Dekavite (Milk powder for Ruminants) five times a day.
These two lovelies are Matilda and Peanut our giraffes. Here i am taking down the hay net ,which is empty, so that i can fill it up again. We refill it twice a day in the morning and in the afternoon.



























And last but not least this is Max one of our two lion cubs (the other one is Lex) Max is a male lion. The cubs are now 14 months old and eat about 3 kg of fresh meat per day. Even though they are fun to be with and we refer to them as still being cub, we have to be very careful when going into their enclosure. First you are never allowed to go in by yourself, because you must have your eyes on both lions at all times it is easier to have too pairs of eyes watching your back. They are also very playful and see us as fellow lions so try to play with us the way they play with each other. Basically they can hurt you quite badly without meaning to. We teach them about not hurting us by smacking them on their noses when they bite us. This is because the nose is a sensitive part of their body and even a soft tap can be felt. It is also important to speak to them the whole time while you in their cage. Because they can get a fright and attack, if you suddenly get up or make a noise when they have relaxed with you in the cage.

Agenda 31/08/2011

Captive animal management

SAQA 48435

1. Feedback on training:

· Students are doing well still very enthusiastic.

· Students are interacting more with the animals, going with lions on walks and assisted with the caracal walks. Some of them feel comfortable feeding the more dangerous animals.

· They are able to prepare feeding on their own as well as feed most of them on their own.

· They think for themselves and use initiative in terms of animal enrichment and cleaning without being asked to do so.

2. Feedback on research project

· Have not done anything more as yet.

· Titles and introduction complete methods will be completed by next academy day.

3. Presentation of assignment(S)

· Workbook one question one completed.

· Workbook 2 question one and two completed.

· Have decided to move Module one to the end of the course because we gather a large amount of legislation information as we work through the other workbooks.

· Still working on the educational booklets.

4. Handout and discussion of new assignment.

· Workbook 3 to be done for next week. Will discuss today.

· Do questions 1-4 for next academy day

· Also next questions will be given to us.

5. Research for new assignments

· The research the statistical success of bone re-growth in heavy birds e.g. Emu and Ostrich.

· What medication was used on the Hyena yesterday?