July 19

July 19, 2016

Today one of the female lions had to be darted to give her a contraceptive injection.   They tried giving the contraception to the males but it caused them to loose their manes.  So while doing the males would be more cost effective they do not want the males to not look like males.   Kevin does all of the chemical immobilization and they need to get all of the drugs into the animal in 3 ml or less.  It took about 25 minutes for her to go down and she also needed a backup dose of the drugs.  Once she was down, she was weighed.  Then I was in charge of monitoring her temperature every couple of minutes to make sure there were no drastic changes- either getting too hot or too cold.  The contraceptive chips were inserted and she was also vaccinated for rabies and feline flu.  Her teeth and body length were all measured as well.  Once everything was done she was given a reversal drug and put back in her enclosure. Her paws were huge!  Such an experience to be that close to an animal like that!  I wish I could start sharing all of my pictures with you but most of them are on my camera and I have limited wifi so you will all need to wait!!

We unloaded two truck loads of chips as well today.  Chipangali gets an expired chips from one of the stores and they are fed to the animals.  It is truly amazing that nothing here goes to waste.

Tomorrow I will be going to Matopos on the carnivore research trip until Friday so I should have a lot to post when I get back but will have no access to wifi while I am there.  

The lamb is still doing ok, she still is not keen on drinking from the bottle but gives in and drinks a little bit when she realizes I am not going away. 

Miss everyone!!