Murdoch Numbat News October 2009
Veterinary students from Murdoch University spent a hair-raising night capturing lions in Kruger National Park recently, as part of an annual South Africa field trip. The 10 students, with trip co-ordinators Dr Kris Warren and Dr Leisel Wion from the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Science’s Conservation Medicine Program, were helping vaccinate the lions against rabies, after the pride killed a rabies-positive dog.
The operation, a joint mission with the State Veterinary Service and Wildlifevets.com, involved radio-tracking the pride of 17 adults and cubs, attracting them using a dead wildebeest and the recorded sounds of lions eating and then darting and anaesthetizing several of the adults. Teams of students helped vaccinate and health-check the anaesthetized animals, while keeping watch for other lions, as well as for signs that their own lion was waking up. “We really appreciated the opportunity to observe a pride of lions up close in a natural setting” said Dr Wion. “It was truly a once in a lifetime experience”.
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Assisting with lion anaesthesia and transport at Moholoholo Rehab Centre (the daytime lion shots)
The students also visited nearby villages to help local vets from Mpumalanga State Veterinary Services vaccinate dogs and cats and talk to local people about rabies - one of the most serious infectious diseases in southern Africa. The disease is endemic in many wildlife and domestic species, and interactions between infected animals and other animals and humans can lead to human fatalities and the loss of village livestock and endangered wildlife. “It is critical that this disease is controlled at the interface between domestic and wild populations” said Dr Wion “So a key management focus is vaccination campaigns of domestic animals and education of local people.”
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Community work at the schools (vaccinating the dogs and cats against rabies, as well as other basic health checks - the dogs are being dewormed in these photos)
Children from Masoyi and Manzini Schools were only too happy to bring along their pets for vaccinations and health checks. “One of the challenges for the vet students was adjusting their animal-handling skills to dogs with very little handling and occasional aggressive tendencies” said Dr Wion. “But the students commented that it was incredibly rewarding to be involved in a positive project in such a poverty stricken area, and to see the enthusiasm and warmth with which the local children greeted us”
Other highlights of the trip included the opportunity to help hand-raise two orphaned baby rhinos. Round-the-clock care included bottle feeding the babies and sleeping with them overnight. Students also helped capture and relocate two adult giraffe, and constructed huge “bomas” or barriers for funnelling and capturing game such as buffalos for disease testing. “Making the bomas demonstrated to the students the immense technical and logistical challenges encountered by wildlife veterinarians” said Dr Wion.
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Giraffe darting and capture (students assisting)
Fighting the rabies battle on multiple fronts helped illustrate the “one-health” concept of conservation medicine: that endangered wildlife health is often interconnected with public health, the health of domestic and other wild animals, and issues such as community development. “The students developed an appreciation of the links between poverty, socio-economic issues and biodiversity conservation” said Dr Warren, Program Chair of Postgraduate Studies in Conservation Medicine. “Key aims of these field trips are to give students an immersion experience, and explore issues related to conservation at the grassroots level”. Dr Warren also hopes that their experiences in Africa will inspire students to continue to engage in local and global biodiversity conservation initiatives.
good times =)
Crispy skinned saltwater Barramundi fillet, caponata vegetables, lemon basil aioli
Garlic and rosemary smoked lamb shoulder with a pumpkin, English spinach, pine but and feta salad 
