But the best part was definitely going shark diving!  We went with Marine Dynamics - a group of scientists that study Great White Sharks and use the money they make from cage diving to fund their studies.  It was great we were able to have such a cool experience and fund important research at the same time.


But mostly it was just pure awesome.  These sharks are HUGE!  I thought it would be scary, but it was just amazing the whole time.  Poor Caro got a little bit seasick, but once we were in the water with these incredible animals it was all better!

Linda had a GoPro with her and she got some incredible footage of our experience with the sharks!

It was finally our turn to work on the coolest animals out there.  We were ecstatic!


Our very first immobilization was on four Cape Buffalo bulls.  Cape Buffalo in South Africa harbor many of the diseases that could cripple domestic cattle production like foot and mouth disease, brucellosis, tuberculosis, and theileria. Our plan was to get them down and then to get the testing done as soon as possible.  But the buffalo had other plans.  Two of them fell into the watering hole while the drugs took effect.  That meant we had to run in and hold their heads up so they wouldn't drown.  Unfortunately, that also meant I slipped and fell into an acacia tree and got covered in thorns. Somehow with everything going on, we still managed to get the testing done and wake them up in a decent amount of time.  The thorn story is a pretty funny one and I actually won best submission to the Student American Veterinary Medical Association's publication The Vet Gazette for it so you should go read it and laugh by clicking here.



Our next immobilization was on with zebras.  We needed to relocate two female zebras from Amakhala to a nearby game ranch.  So we set out looking for them and found a herd with some red hardebeest.  It didn't take long for us to dart the first one.  But when we got to her, it turned out she was lactating.  We didn't see a foal with her when we darted her so we did a quick preg check.  Turns out she had a baby somewhere out there so we woke her up and went back to lookin.  We finally got our two ladies down and loaded into the truck for them to head to their new homes.  We definitely learned a few things with these immobilizations - tracking a zebra running through a herd of stripes is difficult and even though Mike is big he can't be the only person on one side of the stretcher to lift the zebra into the truck.




Our next immobilization was with Cape Buffalo again, but this time with seven cows and a young calf.  These girls had already had their testing done, so they were on their way to their new home. We split up into several groups so we could get it done quickly.  And just like the zebras, we had to move them manually and in case you are wondering, yes, Cape Buffalo are very heavy.




Our next immobilization was a bitter-sweet one.  We set out to capture six nyala bulls for translocation.  But when we went to move the animals to one side of the boma (this one was ginormous), one of the females spooked and jumped into the fence and cut herself pretty good.  After getting the males loaded (which was so cool - these animals are awesome), we found the female and darted her so we could get a look at her wounds.  They were pretty extensive so Dr. Brothers and Dr. Blue got to work suturing her up.  Unfortunately she was under just a bit too long, and didn't come out of the anesthesia.  Nyala are very sensitive animals and we just weren't fast enough.  But it was amazing seeing Dr. Brothers do all he could to resuscitate her.



Our next immobilization was with Black Rhinos!  Everything we had been doing was leading up to this moment.  Black Rhinos are extremely endangered, and the preserve we worked on is the source of approximately a third of the total population of these amazing animals.  Our goal was to immobilize two mothers and their calves to notch the calves ears so they could be easily identified by rangers on their anti-poaching rounds.  We also placed microchips in the horns and the nuchal humps of the animals.  If any of those animals were to be poached, their horns could be traced to the poaching incident so the poachers could be charged with poaching and not just possession of a horn.

The rhinos were huge.  One of the babies went down in an acacia tree (of course) and we had to lift him out.  At just a year old he felt nearly as heavy as some of the cape buffalo cows.  The rhinos were also much softer than the White Rhinos at Hogle Zoo but they're skin was just as tough.  You had to full on whack that needle in there to give them their injections.


When we woke them up, one of the mothers charged us.  Her name is Julia and apparently she doesn't like cars so everybody who works there wasn't surprised but we sure were!
After we finished working on these amazing rhinos, there was such a feeling of gratitude.  Here we were working on one of the most endangered and protected animals in Africa.  It was wonderful to know that our course fees funded the great work we did there that day.

But the day wasn't over yet!  We went and helped examine a Cape Buffalo cow who had recently aborted and now had a uterine infection.  And then...we practiced darting again.  But this time we were in helicopters and our target was Dr. Brothers' truck!  Best day EVER!



Our next immobilization was on a black wildebeest.  We needed to get two caught up for translocation.  That is easier said then done.  In order to dart an animal, you need to get within 30 meters of that animal so wind won't blow your dart off course.  But every time we would get within 35 meter, the herd would run off.  It took us a couple hours to get one, and we didn't get the second before the sun set.  But these animals are cool.  They've got these weird frilly nose tufts, a mane and a tail like a horse, and some cool looking horns.  They're definitely way cooler looking than the blue wildebeest that are much more common.



Our last immobilization was with giraffe.  And as far as the way it is done, this one definitely is the coolest.  We needed a bull and two cows to be relocated to another park.  We would get close to the giraffes, Dr. Brothers would dart them, and then if they took too long to go down, they would need to be tripped.  Giraffes are extremely sensitive to the anesthetics we use and if they are not reversed fast enough, they can die from them.  So it is important to get them on the ground and restrained as fast as possible to reverse them.

Once they are down, a group of five or so lie on the giraffe's neck, a blindfold and harness are put on, and cotton is stuffed in the giraffes ears.  Then the animal is reversed.  After that, you place ropes around the giraffe's legs.  Once those are in place, everyone jumps back and the giraffe gets to its feet.  From there you use the ropes around its legs to push and guide it into the trailer.  It was the coolest thing ever and the perfect end to the perfect trip.

This was the experience of a lifetime!  I was fortunate enough to spend a month in the amazing country of South Africa on a Conservation Medicine Study Abroad.

Elephant on Patrol

We spent a day in London on our way over and it was incredible.  We got a behind the scenes tour of the London Zoo by one of the veterinarians.  We got to see the hospital and feed some adorable baby meerkats who were staying there.  The Zoological Society of London seems like an awesome organization to work for.  They have three different areas veterinarians can work in - the London Zoo, the Whipsnade Zoo, and in their Conservation Department doing cool field work.

Then we got to go around the zoo and just enjoy ourselves.  The London Zoo was the first zoo to abbreviate zoological gardens to the now common 'zoo' and it was so fun to see modern exhibits in old historical buildings.  Plus we got to see where the Harry Potter snake scene was filmed so that was awesome!
We also got to spend some time going around London before having to leave the next night for Africa.  London was beautiful.  It was so amazing to see the place I have studied in so many history classes.  Again the juxtaposition of modern with historical structures was just incredible.  The London Eye and our tour on top of a double deck bus were definitely my favorite parts.  It also happened to be the Opening of Parliament so we got to see the Queen drive by in her carriage and snap a few photos of her.  It felt very touristy but it was great.
We finally arrived in Africa and you could feel the excitement in the air.  This is what we had come for.  Dr. Peter Brothers from Brothers Safari's came to pick us up with my man Winston. He took us to stay at the beautiful Safari Lodge on the Amakhala Game Reserve.  The story behind Amakhala is pretty cool.  The land originally belonged to seven ranching families who decided that instead of cattle ranching, they would combine their land and work together to help preserve South Africa's beautiful game species.  For each 50 hectares a family contributed, they would be allowed to put one bed in their lodge so that each family's potential for tourists would correspond to what they gave.  The reserve is beautiful and it is staffed by some incredible people.

We spent the first few days going on game drives and studying.  The game drives were incredible. There are no words for seeing your favorite animals out in the wild.  It's breathtaking.  And our studies were also incredible.  We were taught primarily by Dr. Brothers but we were also fortunate enough to have Dr. Peter Buss from Kruger National Park come down to teach us Immobilization Pharmacology.  We even got to practice darting! These men are my heroes and I hope to be like them someday.
We also got the chance to go on a game drive on the beautiful Addo Elephant National Park.  The history behind this park is also pretty cool.  The area around Addo is full of citrus trees, so naturally Elephants would help themselves to their fruit.  But in the 1930's, people were not too fond of that. So they organized a hunt and killed all the elephants in the area except for 24.  Thankfully at that point, they stopped the slaughter and protected the area that would become Addo.  Because of the inbreeding that occurred there, the female elephants of Addo stopped growing tusks.  To combat this, SAN Parks brought in some big bulls from Kruger to reintroduce lost genes and now half the cows are sporting tusks.  This place was beautiful and it was so much fun to see so many elephants in one place.
After Addo we also visited the Born Free Foundation at the Shamwari Game Reserve.  The goal of Born Free is to rescue animals from bad zoos and circuses and release them back to the wild.  Some of these animals are not releasable so they stay at the facilities Born Free manages.  It was cool to see the animals, but I felt that in some of the cases with bad medical conditions, money spent on the conservation of their wild cousins would probably have a better effect.  But it was still cool for sure.
One of my favorite excursions was to Port Elizabeth where we got to go out on Algoa Bay with a group of scientists studying the endangered African Penguin.  Two of them were going to be staying on St. Croix Island for two weeks to study the largest rookery of these penguins and the effects the fishing industry on their breeding.  The ride over was magnificent.  We saw whales and dolphins and all sorts of cool birds.  St. Croix was beautiful. Pods of dolphins swam in its breaking waves and so many penguins hopped all around its rocks.  Getting the gear off the boat was a little tricky with the waves and the sharp rocks, but our captain managed to accomplish it.  When we drove off, it was impressive to me just how dedicated scientists are.  Those two were left on an island with only what they brought, planning on living in the little hut the team built years ago.
After a week or so learning to identify the various game species, learning about their biology, and learning about the pharmacology and techniques it takes to immobilize them, we were ready for our first immobilization, but you'll have to stay tuned for that!