Stray zebra herd safely MOVED TO GAME FARM
In a dramatic event last Wednesday, Friends of Bisley Nature Reserve (FoBNR), together with the assistance of veterinarian Dr Ryan van Deventer and concerned volunteers, safely relocated an errant herd of zebra to a nearby game farm.
Four years ago, about nine zebra residents of the Bisley Nature Reserve (BNR), escaped from the reserve through damaged fences and made their way into vacant land between Intaba Ridge and the reserve. Together with a number of giraffe and wildebeest, they made this their new grazing habitat.
FoBNR decided to leave them there as the nature reserve was grossly overstocked with zebra, which is why they escaped in the first place. They enjoyed their peaceful and tranquil surroundings for three years, and their numbers grew to about 15.
Earlier this year, probably due to male domination, about 12 of the animals decided to move again. They moved along in the direction of Baynesfield and settled in an open area of farmland. At first this was of no issue with the farmer, until they started to decimate his newly-planted sugarcane fields and had to be removed.
FoBNR was contacted and with the assistance of Dr van Deventer, a game farm was identified which was willing to take in the entire herd of zebra. Zebra form a very tight-knit unit under a dominant male, so it was important to move all of them to the same location.
Members of the Bisley
Nature Reserve Animal Rescue Team were called into action and volunteers from Durban and Amanzimtoti also joined in to assist.
"We gathered on the Dardanelles Road early on Wednesday morning and made our way through very muddy sugarcane tracks to the field behind Thornville," said Peter West, chairperson of FoBNR.
"The cloud cover was low so after an hour's wait, the helicopter arrived and business got underway. Very quickly Dr van Deventer darted the zebra accurately from the helicopter and two teams of volunteers in bakkies rushed to the animals as they dropped," West added.
Each zebra was dragged onto a canvas stretcher and loaded onto the back of the bakkie. Then they made the short trip back to the specifically designed wildlife transport vehicle where they were loaded into compartments and given a shot of antidote to wake them up. The two mares with foals were among the last to be darted and loaded up.
"The last zebra decided to resist the potent drug, stayed on his hooves and managed to rush off into the bush. Unfortunately he was spotted by a few locals who thought they had found a supply of zebra meat and followed it with pangas," West said.
The zebra was saved when the helicopter quickly got airborne and chased the meat hunters off ensuring that he was loaded up and ready for the trip to their new home.
West expressed his thanks and appreciation to all who were involved in the operation, especially the BNR team leader and coordinator, Ron Hulley and Dr van Deventer. He also thanked the pilots who showed remarkable flying skills, the veterinary team and all FoBNR volunteers. He said that it was a wonderful learning experience for everyone.