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| The Cape Vulture colony near Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve. |
Since I have landed back in South Africa the beginning of January,
I had two non-stop weeks of field work. The first week myself and a few UKZN
students helped with the Cape Vulture capture at the colony near Oribi Gorge
Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal. It was an amazing week of collaboration between
agencies and organizations. The captures went very well, and the processing of
the birds went so smooth!
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| The students contemplating about vultures! |
During
this week, I was fortunate enough to gain lots of experience handling the
vultures, taking blood from them, as well as fitting the wing tags. I was also
very fortunate to be inducted into an exclusive club: the Vulture Chow Club!
I went
in to capture a vulture with gloves on and protective sunglasses. By this
point, most of the birds were upset from the numerous disturbances of people
coming into the cage. I was surprised that while standing in this cage full of
about ten 8kg Cape Vultures, that they were all snapping at me! I knew these
were wild animals, but I just didn’t think they would be that intense! And I’ve
heard stories that White-backed Vultures are even worse!
I
picked the vulture I wanted to pin down and aimed for the head. After you
secure the head, one should secure the body and the wings. I was not fast enough
for that! The vulture got away from me and did not want me to do that again to
it. So of course when I went in for the second time, it got away from me and
gave me a big CHOMP on my upper left arm. Still completely focused at that point,
I did not squeal and continued to try to catch the bird.
It was
proving too difficult for me to capture the vulture, so a technician from Ememvelo
KZN Wildlife came in to secure the bird. And of course the bird sits still at
this point!
Later
on, my arm started to get sore. But I had the opportunity to take blood from
the vulture that nipped me. My arm was throbbing and my hands shook while
taking the blood. But I was able to get 5ml of whole blood and the bird was
released.
I will
always have a scar where that vulture chomped down on me. It will be there to
remind me of all things wild and untamed!
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| The Gorge |
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| Awesome waterfall to stand under! |
