Addo Outings 2015

[PJL]

So last week I had a phone call from a friend who happened to be visiting Addo to say that a couple of lion were down in the south of the park near a particular waterhole. Seeing Melvin & Gibson on the weekend had been nice, but they were so far away I thought it might be a good opportunity to get some closer shots of some lion so I took an afternoon trip over to the park with D. We were expecting the lion to be sleeping under bushes and had the intention of waiting until they appeared - they were bound to come out and drink at some point. However, on arrival we could see one straight away - it was Roy.








It didn't take long to realise that he was acting a bit strange - he looked like he was having trouble getting his bearings. There were park vehicles nearby with staff out on foot so I guessed that he must have been darted and had his collar changed. Sure enough, when he turned to the side you could see his nice shiny new collar!




After watching for a few minutes we saw some sudden activity from the staff, so moved our car to get a better view. It was Nomad's turn to be darted and they were busy bringing him out of the bushes where he had hidden. They brought him out into the open pretty much next to our car which we thought was great. But then John Adendorff the park conservation manager wandered over and asked if we'd like to hop out and take a closer look

[Lisbeth]

Wow!!

Where is the closer look????????????????????????????

[nan]

again Caracal

[PJL]

Where is the closer look????????????????????????????

Here we go Lis...

We didn't need a second invitation to jump out the car, although I was rather aware of the fact that Roy was only about 200m away
The rangers kept a close eye on him, but he was still rather spaced out from his shot of drugs and didn't bother us in the slightest

So... here's me and Nomad




The vet did a great job of explaining what they were doing. They took some blood samples for genetic analysis - this helps to monitor the genetic diversity of the lions in the park and therefore if there's ever a need to introduce new blood. The tranquillisers which are used contain 2 drugs - one which is reversible, the other not so. This is good because it allows them to bring the lions out from their slumber once the work is complete and within a few minutes they are able to move around if needed and hence avoid potential attacks from other lions or elephants. They remain fairly drowsy for about 4 to 5 hours while the effects of the other drug wear off. Nomad also had a wound (most likely a bite from another lion) on his hind leg, so they administered a shot of antibiotic to help.




John then gave us an overview of Nomad's features. Here's his dew claw...




You get to appreciate the size of this cat when you see the size of his paws




The canines are a hefty size and are serrated which enables them to slice through meat




For me the most fascinating part was seeing his tongue. If you get licked by a pet cat it feels rough - a lion is basically the same but on a much bigger scale. They have very sharp bristles all over their tongue, so if he was to lick you he would draw blood!!




The staff then went about fitting the new collar. The old ones were radio collars but these new ones are GPS units, so in theory they can tell where the lions are at any moment without the need to be within radio range of them. Here's the new collar...




After tightening a few bolts and trimming the excess material Nomad was all set to go.




We were thrilled to have seen and been a part of the process of fitting his new collar. It really was brilliant of the park staff to invite us to see it all up close - these were the fortunate few who happened to be in the right place at the right time




Once everyone was safely back in their vehicles the vet administered the antidote to the one part of the tranquilliser and a few minutes later a very confused looking Nomad was trying his best to look majestic again

[Flutterby]

An amazing experience...lucky you!!

[Mel]

Utterly awesome... Not sure if there are words good enough to really describe the scope of that encounter.
You are one lucky fish, PJL! But so well deserved as your passion for Addo pours out of every post here. Thanks for that!

And not to forget the great korhaan, mouse and caracal sighting

[Lisbeth]

Wow, that paw is really big and I would not like to be licked by that tongue

It must have been a great experience (Did he smell very badly? )

[PJL]

Did he smell very badly?

No there wasn't any major smells
He had a few ticks on him, but nothing too bad. The staff were not keen on us to touch him at all because they carry a number of parasites on their fur which can cause us some fairly nasty illnesses - they would be disinfecting after the work was done

[nan]

wow what a chance

[steamtrainfan]

Wow PJL you certainly struck it lucky.

Fantastic photos as usual.