On the second day at the Mara we were called out to treat an
injured elephant. After a 3 hour drive we arrived on scene. To my amazement
there were about 20 KWS wardens already on scene waiting for us. They had been
there all day. In Botswana I always had to track wounded animals and it often
took me all day and often they were false calls. I am so impressed with the
dedication and passion of these wardens. Each one of them put their life on the
line to save this elephant without reservation and were genuinely concerned. I
have never encountered this attitude in any other African country. The
friendliness, openness and commitment is truly admirable and I have fallen in
love with that country. Unlike Botswana these guys are well equipped and
trained. I cannot praise them enough.
The elephant was in a very thick bush and was not visible.
We played hide and seek with him for over 2 hours before Dr Dominec finally had
a shot with the tranquilized gun. There were very tense moments as seen in the
faces of the participants as wounded elephants especially when cornered can be
very dangerous and aggressive. Thy usually pick one person and go for him. Well
after the dart was shot the young male bull charged out of the bush right at
me! I made sure I took a picture before I threw off my crocs and ran for my
life. All the other wardens intervened shouting at it and taunting him to get
off my track. Never mind I was already on the vehicle. It’s amazing how fast an
old man can run when it’s needed.
The elephant took off in a rush of panic and adrenaline. If
not for the various wardens running after it that we would have never found it
in this thick bush. It ran about one kilometre before finally succumbing to the
drug. I took us 20 minutes to arrive at its location.
Immediately we started working on him. He had suffered a
spear wound to his side which in fact was already healing. The foam seen on the
pictures are due to hydrogen peroxide and the purple is iodine. I had brought a
pulse Oximiter with me which we attached to the ear and it worked like a charm
beeping intermittently as it monitored his heart and respirations. The
veterinarians loved this new technology.
The wound was cleaned and disinfected and antibiotics and
Antiinflamatories administered. It all went off like clockwork. The antidote
was administered and we all retreated as usually it works within one minute.
Only problem is that this elephant was not waking up. Since we had no idea of
the size of the elephant when loading the dart with M99 we had inadvertently
overdosed it as we imagined a much larger animal due to the description given before
we arrived.
We administered more antidotes and had to revert to pulling
the animal up by using ropes and the vehicle. This stimulus was very effective
and in fact he woke up and charged the vehicle. It then turned around and once
again made a beeline towards me. No time for pictures this time. Fortunately
the ely turned and ran off into the bush to make a full recovery.
I was a great source of amusement to all as I fell off the
log crossing the stream and was covered in mud.
What great camaraderie and fun we had. The adventure
continues
