Moholoholo trains rangers to save vultures
Moholoholo, a wildlife rehabilitation centre in Hoedspruit, was visited by a group of Kruger Park (KNP) rangers and André Botha of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) as part of a vulture poisoning reaction training course.
Equipping rangers with the knowledge on how to immediately treat any poisoned birds once found will give them a higher chance of survival. According to Becky Lambert, clinic nurse at the Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre, the quicker poisoning victims are helped before they are transported to the centre, the higher the chance of recovery.
“We have worked with the EWT and the Kruger Park for well over a decade now, frequently assisting with injured animals and birds from the park and surrounding areas,” she said. Recently, in collaboration with the EWT, they have put together emergency response treatment packs containing what they believe to be the most important pieces of equipment and medicine needed when dealing with poisoning cases.
“The training started with a walk around our museum with manager Brian Jones who shed light on the major problems facing wildlife currently: road accidents, snaring, powerlines, and poisonings, all of which Moholoholo experiences frequently. “Brian took the rangers around the sanctuary to show them our resident birds.
They got to see a wide variety, such as martial eagles, crowned eagles, and long-crested eagles to name but a few,” said Lambert. They then visited the vulture enclosure. “At Moholoholo we have five species of vultures that include hooded vultures, white-headed vultures, white-backed vultures, Cape vultures, and lappet-faced vultures.
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The rangers got to see some of these birds for the first time up close.” Once the resident birds had been introduced, the hands-on training began. “Our clinic staff demonstrated how to safely handle vultures and provided the opportunity for a few rangers to try for themselves. “When handling vultures, the most important thing is to secure the head and beak as these are the most dangerous parts.
This hands-on practice is invaluable if the situation should arise where the rangers need to provide emergency treatment to a poisoned bird. Confidence is key here. “We then moved on to an emergency treatment demonstration where we explained how to safely and securely open the vulture’s beak, how to manually empty the crop, tube them to administer fluids, and where to inject,” she added.
The staff then shared their experiences with rehabilitating poisoned birds and explained how they typically go about the initial treatment at the scene. “We discussed the mass poisoning that occurred within the KNP in January 2020 as we treated over 20 individuals at one time.”
Typical signs of a vulture having been poisoned include legs paralysed but wings still able to move, unable to move at all, or spinning. With vulture numbers being so low, it is so important to save every individual we can as part of the vulture poisoning reaction training,” Lambert concluded. Call Moholoholo on 082 348 7188 or 064 705 3180.
