Archive for January 5th, 2001
Day 2
Only my second day here, and I am plunged straight into the action.
Dr Rogers has heard news from some trackers out in the bush of a rhino they have found, which they have been looking for for days. It has been wounded from a fight with another rhino, and needs medical attention, which is why they have been on the look-out.
I meet some of the ‘rangers’ here, Flip, Mark, Martyn, Christine, Juliette and Marian. I was given a darting rifle to hold in the jeep, and my excitement goes into overdrive as it dawns on me what we are about to do!
By the time we got to the trackers out in the bush, however, the rhino has been lost again. So we troop back to the project.
Later I helped Wendy and Christine to feed some of the animals, the highlight of which was definitely feeding the rhino calf (Mumuan) they have on the reserve! He needs a good supply of milk to help him grow, so a few litres are loaded into a bucket, and we lean over the side of our pickup truck with a giant teat connected to the bucket by some tubing. As Mumuan drinks the milk (downing the whole lot in less than a minute with huge gulps), I could reach out and touch this amazing calf with my hands. The skin is incredibly rough, and hard, like armour plating.
We then heard that the wounded rhino had been spotted again, and off we went at high speed! We found the trackers, and this time sighted the rhino.
After positioning the jeep, Dr Rogers takes aim with the rifle and darts the rhino. It takes about 8 minutes for the drug to take effect, at which point he visibly wobbles on his feet. Amazingly, Dr Rogers gets out of the jeep, and walks towards this wild rhino (still on its feet), holding a blanket. I ask what he is going to do - apparently, with a blanket draped over its head to cover the eyes, a rhino can be lead like a horse. He is doing this so he can gently lead the rhino towards the path, so that when it eventually keels over, he is on flat ground, and will not harm itself by falling on something like a tree stump.
The rhino falls, and soon he sets about cleaning the wound, and also taking the opportunity to take some measurements for the records. It was an amazing experience - to be able to stand right over an adult wild rhino, watching the ribcage rise and fall with its breathing. And it is just so huge, the size is incredible when you are up-close.
All done, another injection to reverse the tranquilliser, and he is back on his feet again. The whole procedure took about half an hour.
That night, Tyse takes us to a nearby tourist lodge which has a moderately powerful telescope, to begin my lessons on astronomy. Out in the bush, the entire galaxy is laid out above in astonishing clarity, I can hardly believe how many stars there are - most of which are hidden by the light pollution back at home. Through the telescope, I saw Venus, Jupiter (and even some of its orbiting moons were just visible), Saturn (I could just make out the rings), and the moon.
This amazing day was rounded off by a night drive, looking for wildlife with a flood-light. The trick is to look out for the reflections from eyes of animals, which appear as pairs of white dots. We saw quite a lot - including giraffe, impala, and even a bush-baby, scurrying up a tree.