TSAVO MOBILE VETERINARY REPORT FOR APRIL 2019

SWT/KWS TSAVO MOBILE VETERINARY UNIT April 2019

Introduction

6 Cases in April

3 Elephant Cases

67% Success

April Report by Dr Jeremiah Poghon In the Month of April 2019, the Tsavo ecosystem witnessed some showers which came as a big relief to both wildlife and the surrounding community. The case load witnessed a big drop with few incidences reported.

Cases attended include treatment and translocation of an injured Zebra near the Machakos area, autopsy of an elephant carcass near Ziwani area of Tsavo West, de-snaring of an elephant bull near Voi Wildlife lodge, Tsavo East, rescue of a collapsed elephant calf near old Charlie Zero camp in Tsavo East and finally vaccination of rhinos in Nakuru National Park after an Anthrax outbreak. More rains are expected and hopefully cases of malnutrition, especially in elephants, will remain low due to the availability of forage and water across the conservation areas.

Acknowledgement The unit acknowledges the support of its sponsors ViER PFOTEN through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) for their huge financial support to the unit. We also thank Kenya Wildlife Service through the Assistant director Tsavo conservation area and the head, veterinary and capture services department for their support.

Case Details Date

Species

Area Found

Reason for Intervention

Outcome

04-Apr-19

Zebra

Machakos

Spear

The Zebra was attacked by members of the public in a poaching attempt

Successfully Treated

10-Apr-19

Elephant

Tsavo West NP

Poaching Postmortem

The carcass with the front of the face hacked out and tusks missing

Poaching Death

14-Apr-19

Lion

Tsavo East NP

Natural Causes

Six porcupine quills stuck on the chest and the front limbs

Successfully Treated

16-Apr-19

Elephant

Tsavo East NP

Human Wildlife Conflict

Fence Wires wound around the hind legs but with no serious tissue injury

Successfully Treated

22-Apr-19

Elephant

Tsavo East NP

Rescue

A collapsed elephant calf was found

Taken to Orphanage

29-Apr-19

Rhino Black

Lake Nakuru NP

Technical Cases

Rhinos needed to be vaccinated against Anthrax, due to recent outbreak

Task Successful

SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Vet Unit Treatment Locations April 2019

Case 1 – 4th April 2019 Zebra

Human-wildlife Conflict

Machakos, Central Kenya

The report was made by the Machakos station warden that there was a zebra near Machakos that had ventured out of the ILRI Kapiti Conservancy and entered a community area. The zebra was attacked by members of the public in a poaching attempt and sustained several deep cut wounds on the limbs. As there wasn’t a vet in Nairobi, the Tsavo vet who was on off duty was tasked to assist.

Immobilisation, examination and treatment The zebra was darted with a Dan-Inject dart containing 7 mgs of Etorphine Hcl and 80 mgs of Azaperone. The Zebra was easily approached on foot as it had entered a community member’s compound and was darted on the rump.

When fully immobilized the zebra was treated for several slash wounds to the limbs and body. The wounds were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

He was loaded onto a truck and transported to ILRI conservancy along the Nairobi-Mombasa road.

Prognosis The anaesthesia was reversed, and the zebra woke up and joined other zebra herds nearby. Prognosis for recovery is good following treatment and relocation out of areas occupied by local communities.

Case 2 – 10th April 2019 Elephant

Post-mortem

Ziwani, Tsavo West National Park

A report was made by the company commander F coy based at Tsavo West National Park that an Elephant carcass had been spotted within Ziwani area of Tsavo West National Park after an aerial recce and requested an autopsy to be undertaken to ascertain the cause of death.

Immobilisation, examination and treatment The carcass was lying on the left flank with the front of the face hacked out and tusks missing. It was in midadvanced stage of decomposition with extensive scavenger activity on the carcass. The carcass was covered with twigs and deep cuts were made in several areas to hasten autolysis. Most of the internal organs had either been scavenged on or decomposed with only skin, skeletal and musculature remaining. Musculature and skeletal systems were checked and only scavenger activity and advanced autolysis were observed. The skull was checked for cracks, but none were found apart from the cut damage to the front of the skull. The in-gested material and parts of the carcass that were not scavenged on appeared normal. There were no struggle marks around the carcass. Metal detectors were used but no foreign metallic object was detected.

Prognosis This was a poaching incident due to the lack of tusks and attempts to hide the carcass. However, the exact cause of death could not be found due to advanced autolysis and extensive scavenger activity..

Case 3 – 14th April 2019 Lion

Natural Causes

Pipeline Road, Tsavo East National Park

The report was made by several tour drivers that a lioness was spotted near pipeline road not far from the Park headquarters with Porcupine quills stuck in the chest. The vet unit rushed to the site and found the lioness under an acacia tree with about six porcupine quills stuck in the chest and the front limbs.

Immobilisation, examination and treatment Anaesthetic drugs comprising of 300 mgs of Ketamine and 3 mgs of Meditomidine were formulated and filled in a 3cc Dan-inject dart barrel. The lioness was darted in the thigh and was fully immobilized after 5 minutes.

The eyes were covered with a towel and lioness then moved to a shaded area.

The Lioness had multiple porcupine quills stuck in her chest. They were all removed, and the wounds treated with Opticlox antibiotic and sprayed with Oxytetracycline spray. Long acting Amoxicillin and Dexamethasone Hcl were administered parenterally.

Reversal and Prognosis The treatment took one-hour after which the anaesthesia was reversed by administration of Atipemazole.

The lioness regained full consciousness after 2 hours. Follow up indicated she is doing well.

Case 4 – 16th April 2019 Elephant

Human-Wildlife Conflict

Voi Wildlife Lodge, Tsavo East

This young elephant bull was spotted at the Voi wildlife lodge water hole by a tourist who made the report to KWS headquarters in Nairobi who in turn reported to the resident Vet via the Tsavo East National Park office. The vet team rushed to the water hole to find the young bull foraging nearby after drinking water.

Immobilisation, examination and treatment Darting equipment and immobilization drugs were prepared. The dart barrel was filled with 15 mgs of Etorphine in a 1.5 cc Dan-inject barrel. The elephant was darted in the rump from a vehicle and went down after 7 minutes.

The elephant’s back legs were entangled in wire suspected to be from the fence line along the Park boundary with Voi town. It had wound around the hind legs but hadn’t caused any serious tissue injury. The wire was cut loose and as there were only a few bruises no antibiotics or anti-inflammatories were administered.

Reversal and Prognosis The anaesthesia was reversed by administration of Diprenorphine at three times the Etorphine dose.

Prognosis is good.

Case 5 – 22nd April 2019 Elephant

Rescue

Tsavo East National Park

The SWT Kaluku K9 team stumbled on an agitated elephant cow beside the road while on patrol within the Triangle area of Tsavo East National Park. Upon a closer look they noticed an elephant calf that had collapsed and was flat on the ground and unable to even lift its trunk. They immediately informed the Kaluku field office who in turn informed the Tsavo resident Vet. Due to the long distance the Vet was airlifted to the location by SWT airplane.

Treatment and Rescue The mother was pushed away using a helicopter and the calf was accessed. She was barely responding to stimuli and had a high body temperature. She was breathing heavily and froth was coming from the trunk. A temporary shade was made over the calf due to the hot temperatures and plenty of water and ice poured on the ears to cool her down.

A 10 cc Dexamethasone drip was administered via the ear veins to combat shock and long acting Antibiotics and vitamin B12 complex given intramuscularly. She was also given 50% Dextrose bolus by a slow IV via the ear vein and fluid therapy continued until the calf was stabilized. S he was loaded onto a pickup truck and transported to Umani SWT stockade for further intensive care.

Case 6 – 29th April – 1st May 2019 Black Rhino

Vaccination

Lake Nakuru National Park

There was reported outbreak of Anthrax within Lake Nakuru National Park that affected mostly buffaloes with some spill-over to other species. There were worries that critical species, such as the rhinos, could be affected by the disease hence the management made the decision to vaccinate the rhinos. A big proportion of the rhinos had already been vaccinated and there were only 16 animals remaining unvaccinated. The KWS helicopter had reached the mandatory service mileage and was unavailable for the exercise so a request was made by KWS management to SWT to assist with the trust helicopter. The Tsavo Vet was also called in to assist in the operation.

Vaccination Vaccines were sourced from Kenya Vaccines production institute, Kabete and maintained in cold chain at Nakuru Wildlife Research Centre. Drop darts were used to propel the vaccine to the rhino. The SWT helicopter was used to identify and vaccinate targeted candidates. Identifying the candidates was difficult as a large percentage of the rhinos were already vaccinated. The vaccination exercise took 3 days with 5 rhinos vaccinated on the first day, 4 on the second day and 2 on the third day making a total of 11 rhinos vaccinated in the 2nd phase of the exercise. The remaining 5 rhinos will be vaccinated at a later date. The helicopter flew a total of 15 hours during the exercise. So far none of the rhinos have been affected by Anthrax.

Other Activities The vet testified at Voi and Mariakani law courts in cases where offenders were charged with being in possession of government trophies.

Report by Dr Jeremiah Poghon