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Darting buck, cleaning a tiger's teeth and splinting a vulture - it's all in a very busy day's work for Joburg Zoo's dedicated vets.
The Cape vulture goes on a gas-trip to dreamland so that an X-ray can be taken
THEY have to be orthopaedic surgeons, obstetricians and specialists on any given day, and are as comfortable with a dart gun as with a stethoscope.
But whatever the job requires on the day, the daily tasks of Joburg Zoo's two resident veterinarians - Michelle Barrows and Katja Koeppel - pack a punch that would have some of us literally running for cover.
Like the morning they have to dart 10 antelope to test for tuberculosis. It is raining hard and persistently, and everyone is soaked and miserable before you can say "pass the buck".
Unfortunately, the job has to be done on the day as the state vet is on hand to sign the movement permits - the antelope are surplus stock and have already been sold to outside parties. All that is needed is for the animals to get a final clean bill of health.
An unfazed Koeppel, who has been going since seven, gives a wide grin as she readies her dart gun from under a dripping zoo peak.
In the meantime, Barrows, clad in blue rain gear, has sneaked off and is barely visible, hidden by sleets of rain and branches in a tree, gun at the ready to "knock down" the two lively Indian blackbucks. It is going to be a long, wet exercise; these animals are exceptionally fast and skittish, leaping into the air from time to time to try to escape.
After a long wait, Barrows manages to get the one buck down, giving the other such a fright it chooses some low flying to escape - straight into the fence. The result is two fractured neck vertebrae, which will take about six weeks to heal, if it survives.
Barrows excuses herself from all the excitement to attend a meeting. As the senior vet, she has the less enviable task of giving the progress reports to management, but with the inclement weather on everyone's mind, for once they all wish they were in her shoes.
But before the others can think of dry clothes or a steaming cup of coffee, two more scimitar-horned oryxes and a sable must be done, and the morning is all but gone.
Scalpel and pen
For the two vets, this is all in a day's work - one moment in surgical gloves and mask, scalpel at the ready; then pen and paper replaces their weapons of choice for some number crunching and administrative chores.
Usually the day starts with a hospital round, checking with the caretakers and veterinary nurse, Vanessa Anderson, on the status of the sick animals - which is eating and how much; which is losing and which is gaining weight. The little blind, white-faced owl, the three baby tortoises, the Australian duck, three caracals; and the Amazon parrot with the deadly beak-and-feather disease - these are just a few of the animals in hospital needing daily check-ups.
The zoo hospital often gets saddled with the weird and the wonderful, such as the time a container filled with Madagascan reptiles was confiscated at the airport. About 150 of the animals were already dead, but the zoo hospital staff managed to save more than 600 others.
On another occasion, a person dropped-off an unwanted chicken in the hopes that the zoo would know what to do with it.
After hospital rounds, Barrows heads off in the zoo bakkie to fetch Jack the Ripper, the honey badger. It has a tumour-like growth under its stomach that needs attention.
But first, Monty, the baby mona monkey, dressed in its newborn nappy, comes for a cuddle. It knows only the care of humans.
Zoo staff members take turns to look after it and Annie, the spider monkey, at night - their mothers have not been able to do the job so the vets have decided to "pull them".
Hand-rearing is a big no-no in zoos nowadays because of the unavoidable human imprinting, says Koeppel.
It is a challenge to reintroduce these animals back into their natural environment once they have been hand-reared. They are also inclined not to be able to raise their own offspring.
"Only critical cases will be pulled from the mother," she adds.
Surgery and mom's taxi
Monty sticks his little liquorice-like fingers into Barrow's mouth, then tugs on her hair. "Come on Monty, I'm busy now." She gives him a gently prodding to return to his keeper.
When she finally gets Jack on to the examination table, Barrows is in for a big surprise - the growth is huge and will have to be removed. It's time for some serious surgery, which leaves old Jack not only 300 grams lighter but also with one less testicle.
Then it is the Cape vulture's turn. It goes on a gas-trip to dreamland so that Barrows can take X-rays of its injury, a fractured femur which healed badly.
Anderson takes the time to admire the vulture's feathered jacket and matching accessories, noting the softness of some of the down on the inside of the wings.
Barrows had to insert three pins into the femur to try to get the bone as close to normal as was possible. "It's healed but this is as good as its going to get," she says after studying the X-ray. The bird will always walk with a bit of a limp but is ready to be returned to the Rhino and Lion Conservation group's vulture programme, with which the zoo works very closely.
And, as if the day is not already busy enough, Barrows has to changes gears again, this time hopping into her mom's taxi to fetch her daughter from school.
A bit of dentistry
The next day shows up grey and miserable again as Koeppel and team head out to the carnivore section. It's time for Twist, the Siberian tiger, to get a general medical check-up and teeth cleaning. The 210kg tiger gives an almighty growl when it sees Koeppel, recognising her from previous visits.
Twist, the Siberian tiger, gets a thorough dental check up
Once the big cat is down, keeper Dominic Moss first makes sure Twist is really fast asleep, prodding it with a stick through the cage. Then everyone moves into action.
Despite the sleeping lump of tiger, no chances are taken. Koeppel asks that the cat's limp body be turned so that the team can work as close to the door as possible. Even with all the necessary precautions, animals have been known to wake up, albeit groggily, and give the little humans a big fright.
The tiger's teeth show some tartar build-up and an abscess under the one canine. Koeppel manages well with the antiquated dental equipment but struggles to remove the hardened build-up. It's a gory business.
Keeping a sharp eye out for vital signs is veterinary student Katya Potter. She is on a month-long internship with Joburg Zoo before returning to the Royal Veterinary College in London to write her final exams.
She checks the tiger's heart rate and anal reflex from time to time, keeping Koeppel informed. "Rather tell me too often," is the vet's sound advice - no one wants to deal with a hallucinating, grumpy tiger.
Before Koeppel injects the reversal drug to counter the effects of the anaesthetic, everyone takes the chance to have their photograph taken with the prostrate animal. There is relief all round when the cage door slams shut. Another big job completed successfully - tick.
And then it is back to the office for some paperwork and other minor emergencies. All the zoo's primates will have to be vaccinated against a bacterial disease next week, says Koeppel as she checks her vaccinations file.
But who knows what else will be thrown up as the week progresses - the only certain thing is that they will be very busy.
As Barrows puts it in her relaxed and understated manner: "The two of us are literally working flat-out all the time. At some point we'll need another vet."
In fact, they have a wish list:
-
Old towels;
- Old blankets;
- Microwave oven;
- Tupperware dishes with lids;
- Fax machine/photocopier;
- Incubator;
- Generator;
- Handheld vacuum cleaner; and
- Donations towards, dental equipment, a flexible endoscope and an ultrasound machine.
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