Big 5 Wildlife Project - October 2010

Katie Coutts - USA
Big Five Wildlife Project - EDGE of AFRICA
October 2 - October 14, 2010

In short, this experience has been absolutely amazing. The program is based at the Garden Route Game Lodge near Mossel Bay. This is a lodge where guests come to stay and go on game drives during the day. It is the job of the workers and volunteers to manage the game reserve and all of its animals. As a volunteer, I worked with Piet, the volunteer coordinator. Piet is a great person to work with because he makes if fun while teaching you anything you want to know about the animals and the reserve. Some of the daily jobs that we do include cleaning out the elephants' boma, cutting down small trees to feed the elephants, feeding the buffaloes, and feeding the cheetahs. On top of these daily activities, we also had other tasks to complete that were needed at the time.

This past week has been a special time for the reserve because they have recently doubled their land. We had to make gates at the boundaries of the new land while other workers took down the old fencing, opening up the entire reserve. Another important task with the opening of the new land was to guide the animals to it. Although there is no more fencing, the animals have a mental barrier as to where their boundaries are and it may take a while for them to explore on their own. We guided the buffalos into the new land by feeding them a little bit at a time, and making sure they were following the truck to get more food. This was a hard task because the two days we attempted it, the buffaloes were no where to be found. Every other day the buffalos have been right out in the open, but of course the day we need them they are hiding. We eventually found them and, after a lot of teasing with the food, the buffaloes were finally in their new territory. After this great success on our part, they returned back to the old land within a half hour. However, we were still happy because now they know there is no boundary and they will explore more on their own.

Another task we had was to shoot a zebra that was injured with an infected leg. They had given him a few weeks to heal, but the leg just kept getting worse, so they made the decision to kill it. After shooting it, we brought it to the reserve's butcher shed and skinned it (I actually just watched). This skin will be sold at the curio shop and the money will be put back into the reserve. We then brought the skinned zebra across the street to the butchery where they prepared and sold the meat. Although it seems like a sad story, the zebra was suffering and it is all part of running a reserve. In the next few days, we will dart and relocate another male zebra to put with the female zebras who lost their dominant stallion.

The game lodge has a reptile park with caged snakes that the guests can visit. Because they are caged, they must be fed. Piet and I had the task of shooting a bird to feed to the Green Mamba snakes. We drove around in the truck until we found a good shot, and after missing once, I shot the second bird. This was a good experience because I had never shot anything before, and the bird was put to good use.

These were just a few of the main things I have experienced here. Although there is work to be done, it is all fun doesn't seem like work at all. There is also plenty of time to relax. One of my favourite things about this setting is that the yard in front of the tents has a small pond that overlooks the reserve. This means that the animals walk up close to the fence, which is amazing to watch while relaxing in the back yard. The sunsets are also amazing from this point, and on a quiet night you can hear the lions roaring! Hein and Kim have been incredibly welcoming and friendly.

I am extremely glad that I participated in this wonderful experience. It's like nothing else in the world!