Game on.

Every second year we run a game capture to reduce the number of animals on the game farm. Put simply all you do is decide how many of each species you need remove also what gender and size you want to take off. Sounds simple.

A helicopter is used to herd the animals towards a boma. The boma is set up in a woodland thicket. Large karky tarpaulin walls are set up in a big v shape. At the point of the V is a truck. The animals are herded by the helicopter into the mouth of the boma the mouth is very wide and the curtains are concealed by the trees so the animals don’t even know they are entering our cunning trap! Once the animals have passed the mouth of the boma the helicopter sounds a siren then several people run flat out pulling a curtain wall across the mouth. The helicopter gives the animals a hard time so they move further towards the point of the V and the waiting truck.

The Zambian riot squad persuading the Wildebeast to go up the ramp and into the truck. Note my brave position - up a tree!

The wildebeast finally relented and entered the truck. The curtain wall of the Boma behind two young Eland. Eland are capable of jumping the curtain. it's not too advisable to stand close to the outside of the Boma in case it starts raining Eland. A total of four curtains are pulled across the boams to force the animals into a smaller and smaller area.

I was on the last curtain before the truck. It was only about fifteen meters across. When pulling the curtain you have to run flat out. If you saunter across the animals will see the closing gap and run for it. The four Eland in the pic below decided to charge towards me. I must confess to giving up on the man option and singed up as a mouse. Having these guys running towards me certainly was exciting!!!! They turned away about two meters from my ashen and shaking form.

The first animals in were the Zebras and they are a nightmare as they seriously kick. They also bark like dogs. We had to use the dark gun on a very young zebra when we brought it in. he then got his own executive crate. The Zebra looked spectacular when you opened the hatch on the top of the truck to a black and white striped extravaganza.
The most fun was the last group of animals we caught the Tsesebe. They were herded to the mouth of the Boama then the side of the boma was opened. Seeing the open bush they make a break for it. They then run into a large net getting tangled. As soon as they hit the net everyone jumps out from the hiding positions and grabs the horns of the tsesebe. Once they have been blindfolded they calm right down and stop struggling. So with adrenaline pumping and an instruction lesson of - animal hits net, grab by horns, blindfold, vet sedates animal and puts rubber on the horns so as to make them less pointy. So as soon as they hit I sprinted up to the nearest one. I had managed to find one of the larger animals grappling with it I cast a glance over my shoulder to find the other guys had opted for a speed slightly below that of mine! It was quite amazing to see how the animals gave up the struggle as soon as the blindfold went on. Sorry I was a bit to busy to get a photo!

This young water buck looks a bit confused about the concept of helicopters and truck. I have now developed an awesome respect for the man who pulled off the most epic of game captures, Noah. Two by two the greatest miracle of all!!

One little dog!

Well sadly the pack of wild dogs moved on leaving their mate behind. We now have one little dog who is one great big headache. He is killing and upsetting the all the animals. We have tried to dart him from the ground and even the helicopter with no success. Wild dogs will only eat meat they kill so we can't leave a drug laced piece of meat out for him. Being out of ideas we are hoping he will evaporate if we ignore him!

Wild Dogs and English men go out in the mid day sun!

Well it's one to the wild dogs and nil to the humans! They are still at large and have not been too bad over the past few days. I saw one early morning strutting around and ignoring the big holes in the fence for them to leave by. They have a most peculiar call which sounds like a bird.

Wild Dogs

We have a fantastic nightmare on our hands. Last night a pack of six African Wild dogs entered our farm. They are the second most endangered carnivore with a population of only three thousand. We just saw them tonight with the spotlight. Their Latin name means Painted Dog, as you can see from the picture it is an apt name. They are beautiful and amazing to watch making a greyhound look as if it has two left feet they almost float across the ground when they run. This is the first time they have ever come to this farm. The mayor problem is that they are long distance hunters who will case prey over huge distances. They can reach speeds of forty five miles per hour. They have already chased our game into the fence and lots of the animals are very spooked. We have two vet in with a dart gun so we can catch them and relocate them. There are very few areas where they can live as they require huge territories to hunt.

As Fergus put it "they are beautiful and you just can't help admiring them but give me a lion any day they are a nightmare for the game" I will keep you posted on how we go and where they are going to be move to. I hope to get some pictures in the next few days but for now you will have to live with picks off the web.

The 'last' day of the Jackal.

Life in Africa is just fine and dandy. The pigs and fish are rolling out the front gate by the truck load.

The Shooting has been going well now I've had a little more practice. I have just been out with Fergus shooting at the top end of the farm on the most wonderful African evening. The twisted trees marked against the red hues of the setting sun. I was lost in the great simplicity of my mind which faced with a sight of such beauty grinds to a pleasant halt. When we rounded a corner, looking straight at us was an animal with a foxes head a dog's body and an overgrown squirels tail. I had come to the incorrect guess of "what a nice doggy" when a command rose from the drivers seat in no uncertain terms "In The Head". I dropped onto the sight and pulled it abligingly dropped dead. I stood up and as we drove up to it i bore my ignorance on my sleeve "Ah, what is it?" It was a jackal. Jackals are very bad news for the game animals and they can carry rabies. It had been suspected that one had entered our farm as foot prints had been seen.

So what have I learnt about conservation today - well that some animals can be very destructive and transmit disease. I can also deduce that as I do not know all species I encounter it is better to shoot first ask questions later. This way we can eradicate feral and pest species but if it turns out to be rare shooting it will make positive identification easyier.