The job at hand was to relocate a Giraffe I have never seen Dr Brothers in the “wild”,
WOW!!! I really was not ready for the adventure that awaited. Everyone was told where they needed to be and what they needed to be doing. I went with one of the rangers and the ground crew. We saw the herd of giraffe, which in itself is an awesome experience. They were so tall and graceful in the distance. Dr Brothers let everyone know which was the animal that we
needed to be move. Dr Brothers darted the animal in a clearing, which would have been perfect. Unfortunately the giraffe had not read the manual on where to fall asleep & moved into a thicket, where he went down. With swift precision everyone went in to do what was required, even a bit of bush clearing was required to gain access to where the giraffe was lying.
The giraffe knockdown medication was reversed immediately & all the ropes had been secured, everyone was moving, doing what they had been instructed to do. Dr Brothers was constantly monitoring everything that was being done making sure that safety came first for both the helpers and the giraffe.
The giraffe stood up and it was time for him to be guided into the trailer, which should have been a fairly uncomplicated procedure, but alas our adventure was just beginning! Not only had the giraffe not read the manual but his GPS was also not working and as hard as everyone worked to guide the giraffe onto the trailer, he just would not go on. It was then that we realised that the one ear plug had come out, add to this that we are working in a smaller space than usual and you have yourself a complicated procedure.
Dr Brothers was like the puppet master and we were like the puppets, following his every instruction, but despite best efforts we could not get our friend loaded. Rebecca Wood the veterinary nurse also seemed to know just what to do at the right time, and the two of them worked together like a well oiled machine, making sure that all went well.
The saying goes stubborn as a mule, well I don’t think they had ever met this giraffe.
After quite a lengthy period of time and failed attempts at getting him loaded in the trailer,
Dr Brothers made a decision to call off the procedure, as he was worried that the giraffe would get too stressed and this could be potentially fatal.
Once all the ropes and blindfold were taken off he was released, and went off to find the herd.
We might not have accomplished what we set out to do, but it really was a great adventure and it made me realise how precious our wildlife is, and just how important the work is that Brothers Safaris does.
