Paterson Spay

Dr Debra Nossman & Rebecca Wood, VN

As you may remember in October 2009 Brothers Safaris was approached by the SPCA in Grahamstown to assist with a neutering campaign in our local community, Paterson here in the Eastern Cape, the spay day is part of an on going community project where there is a desperate need for help at all levels. Well this year on 17 September we helped with another neutering campaign in Paterson. This year we had the help of 8 vets from Arizona, USA. they gave their time and expertise for free! We used the community hall as our make shift reception area/prep area/theatre/recovery/kennels and dining room! We neutered 86 animals, so this will make a very small dent in the massively overpopulated Paterson!

Our local paper, The Grocotts Mail joined us for the day, please take a look at the article by following this link - Cats & Dogs get treated in Paterson.


Dr Peter Brothers in action, a mucher smaller patient than he is used too.....

 Brothers Safaris would just like to thank all the people for the donations, time and help but a massive thank you goes to all the vets from Arizona that made this day possible, thank you for giving up a day of your holiday to help this much needed campaign!

My 1st African Vet Safaris experience…. And it beats my office job for sure!!!!

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.

Brothers Safaris supports rhino day.

Rhino's do not have a voice - so use yours! We are definitely using ours, to show support for these precious creatures! What people are doing to these animals is shocking, sad and so disappointing - especially that we as humans should be protecting these animals. Brothers Safaris are definitely showing its support for World Rhino day.



For more information or to show your support go to: http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2010/09/21/join-together-for-world-rhino-day-september-22/

Advanced Wildlife Immobilisation & Conservation Course - Another beautiful day in South Africa...

August 2, 2010


The sun rises over the beautiful African plains, sending rays of warmth through the window of our little home away from home. A beautiful horizontal rainbow coats the horizon as the chilly winter night surrenders to the warm day ahead. I look over at my bunkmate and smile. It’s another beautiful day in South Africa!

I reflect for a bit on why I came to this country as I get dressed and start to pack my bag for the day ahead. I had heard about this amazing program from one of my veterinary professors at Virginia Tech, back in the USA. They knew about my interest in South Africa and African animals and encouraged me to see if there were any spots left. Now, two years later, I’ve once again returned to this country wanting to learn even more about the wildlife and how to treat them.

Dr. Peter Brothers, our veterinary guide for the trip, meets us for breakfast and we chat for a bit about the day ahead. We’re driving to the beautiful Mattanu reserve near Kimberly (http://www.mattanu.com/) to spend the rest of our stay, and we’re going to be doing some buffalo work in the afternoon. The six girls suddenly gang up on him, begging to be taken shopping in Kimberly and to see the sights. It’s not often that we get time to go shopping in town, since we have a very tightly packed schedule on these trips, so us girls will take the opportunity when one arises!

After a lovely morning of sight-seeing, we arrived at the reserve and are greeted with brilliant luxury! After a warm meal in the beautiful lodge, we begin the prep for buffalo capture. Dr. Brothers begins to fire questions at us, and we all try and remember what we’ve studied and learned on the trip last year. What drugs do we use to treat them? What problems do we often see with Cape Buffalo recovery? Why should they be kept sternal? My brain flies through the drug combinations, trying to remember everything I’ve learned. I’ve only got two years of veterinary school under my belt, but I don’t feel at a disadvantage at all, thanks to Dr. Brother’s patience and wonderful teaching skills. It’s not many vet students who can say that their first subcutaneous injection was on a cheetah, or their first blood draw was from a zebra.

We prepare to load the car when Dr. Brothers tells us that one lucky person gets to ride in the helicopter today and see the darting from the air. The girls look at me and smile. “It’s your turn, Sylvia,” they say. My heart begins to flutter as I walk over and the pilot goes over the safety aspects of flying in a helicopter. Soon we’re off the ground, flying high over the park, watching the animals run below us like herds of insects. We finally spot the buffalo we’re looking for, and SNAP! The gun goes off and the dart is in. The pilot begins to herd the other animals away from the darted one, who is quickly beginning to lag. Suddenly he’s on the ground, and the pilot looks for a safe place to land. We land, and I run over to the animal to help my classmates with monitoring the patient.

He’s a big Buffalo bull, and it takes about 15 strong men to get him sternal. Right away we check temperature and breathing. Finding them stable and in a good range, we begin loading him into the trailer. Piling in, we continue monitoring as the tractor and trailer full of people and one sleepy buffalo rush to the next one that’s been darted. The procedure repeats, and one more drowsy bull is added to the trailer. I’m forced to position myself between the head of the massive animals, knowing that there is a good chance that they could wake up and suddenly come forward at me. But that’s part of the risk of veterinary medicine, and the part of the job that I enjoy the most. As we bump over the savanna, I keep a hand near the nose, watching for any change in breathing to signal the animal is failing, or even worse – waking.

After what seems like hours, we finally reach the site of the bull’s new home. A quick reversal and a rush to the vehicles, and the two buffalos begin to wake. As we drive home, we congratulate ourselves on working as a team and getting the job done safely and efficiently. That night, we go over the case outside by the pool, watching the sun set across the African plains. Just another beautiful day in South Africa!

Sylvia Grove
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
Advanced Wildlife Immobilisation & Conservation Course - 25 July - 7 August 2010

Brothers Safaris Updates: Our last few days in South Africa on the Wildlife Immobilisation & Conservation Course, 8 July.

We have had a great couple of days darting animals. Yesterday, we had the privilege of working with young black rhinos. After each rhino was immobilized, we helped monitor, draw blood, and ear notch them. While we were busy with one of the youngsters, the mother decided to come back for her baby. Someone warned us to run, and everyone rushed back and quickly jumped into the vehicle. Once we were there, we realized we had actually been running toward the mother and now were in between her and her baby. The guys were able to chase her away long enough for us to finish up treatments, and they were happily reunited a few minutes later. It was a great adrenaline rush!!

Today, we had a rough start with strong winds and very lively wildebeest bulls that were doing everything they could to stay away from the truck. Eventually our luck got a little better, and we were able to immobilize several bulls and relocate them to a holding facility. It ended up being a great last day as we watched the sun set one final time.

Grace Kell (University of Tennessee, U.S.A.) and the students on the Wildlife Immobilisation and Conservation Course - 8 23 July 2010

So what does it take to be a wildlife vet, part 2.....

After my introduction, where to start next….? Maybe I should point out that generally a wildlife vet works with lions, tigers and bears (despite two of these three not being indigenous to SA…) whereas an “exotics” (note the “s”!) vet works with valuable birds (of the feathered variety), caged/pet reptiles, spiders, caged primates, etc.
If you work in a zoo you will be exposed to all of the above, and a whole lot more! I have helped out at one of our largest zoos in the country and found it immensely interesting, but also somewhat sad and frustrating in other ways – some animals just do not belong in zoos and money is not an excuse to keep animals in poor conditions, rather release them back in their natural environment and country if conditions cannot be rectified.
Anyway, these days I mostly work with various antelope species, especially the rare ones (sable, roan, etc) and colour variants (golden gnu, black impala, etc), rhino (white and black), predators (lion and cheetah mostly), elephant, disease free (this is a discussion on its own!) buffalo and various others such as giraffe (they like to die on you, so you don’t always rush at a job involving them!). Please bare in mind this is in South Africa and that our situation and conditions are very different from other African, and even Southern African, countries. Here everything is fenced in at some stage – maybe after 250 hectares, maybe after 2.5 million hectares – which has pro’s and cons, but it certainly has a large impact on us as vets and the work we do. I would say without doubt that it increases the veterinary work load greatly and creates work opportunities that would not otherwise exist. But fences are another discussion, not entirely in the realm of what I am supposed to be sharing with you, so let me move on before I get side-tracked, which I easily do.
The veterinarian’s role almost always almost always involves chemical immobilisation (not anaesthesia, there are some important technical differences which one needs to bare in mind if you want to live a long life while doing this job….) of the animal firstly.
If the animal is just being relocated then you need to get it into the truck or crated enclosure, alive preferably, and then revive it by giving the antidote. Now some of these antidotes given intravenously work very fast, – as in 30 – 90 seconds fast – so it is important that you get out of the truck or crate enclosure rather smartly after administering the antidote. More on darting and immobilisation in the next part…..
Wild African Regards,

Our 1st week on the Wildlife Immobilisation & Conservation Course, 8 July - 23 July 2010 PART 1!

Today we spent time at Addo Elephant National Park. What an AMAZING place!! We were able to spend some time with the Conservation Manager of the park John, and learned about the conservation and management of the reserve. It was great to hear about his work and the history of the park. We enjoyed a dribe through the reserve and were able to view many species of animals including Elephant, Kudu, Warthog, Yellow mongoose, jackal and even the elusive Dung Beetle! What a beautiful park!

After returning back to Amakhala Game Reserve we were treated to an evening river cruise and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of South AFrica at its finest!

We are currently enjoying a quiet evening around the fire and anxiously awaiting the adventures that tomorrow holds including an early morning game drive (hopefully including the Africa Lions......)

Beth Kaiser (IOWA State University, USA) & the rest of the students on the Wildlife Immobilisation & Conservation Course, 14 July 2010