V5-IIM TO THE RESCUE
While some operations can be planned down to the minute, others, due to the nature of wildlife work, are as unpredictable as the animals themselves. In the western Hoanib River area of the Skeleton Coast, a cheetah known as “Mama-cheetah” had apparently fallen and broken her two front legs. This cheetah is of particular significance because she is the most westerly located cheetah that we know of in the desert, and by monitoring her we are gleaning invaluable data on species survival in the desert.
The Desert Lion Conservation Project asked for help and via the AfriCat Foundation and Wilderness Safaris’ Hoanib Camp, the V5-IIM was on the way again. The plan was to immobilise and move the cheetah to AfriCat’s clinic where she could be assessed, treated and allowed to recover before returning her to her home in the Hoanib as soon as possible.
The aircraft arrived fully equipped to move the cheetah but on inspection and gathering the history of the case, another scenario emerged. Mama-cheetah had just weaned a cub, missed two kills and had fallen off a river embankment. Her two front legs were swollen but didn’t appear to be fractured. Being a veterinarian myself, I assessed the case as most likely a metabolic condition from calcium deficiency and infection.
We decided to treat the animal on site rather than expose her to the stress of a translocation and all that goes along with that. We were right. After two months of field medication the cheetah recovered and returned to a normal cheetah life in the desert, hunting successfully and surviving. All of us were ecstatic. For two weeks. That was when, at a waterhole in the desert known as Auses, a leopard killed Mama-cheetah.
TRACKERS ON THE GROUND, WITH EYES IN THE SKY
Northwest Namibia was by now no stranger to the V5-IIM, and another diverse task was on the horizon. In a highly efficient operation, with a team whose expertise is unsurpassable, a major rhino protection and de-horning procedure has just been completed. The team players were again diverse, and just as effective. Spearheaded by MET and SRT, the operation included highly skilled trackers on the ground plus the aircraft and two helicopters above. In the most extreme terrain imaginable we hopefully gave the rhino population a future chance and a breathing space for survival.
In my mind, the future of conservation and wildlife survival in Namibia lies in effective partnerships and a fusing of skills, talents, expertise and experience. Sometimes unlikely partnerships produce unexpected results. If the diverse range of characters mentioned in these events can achieve so much in such a short time, Namibia could cement its reputation as a wildlife haven and a retreat for the human soul.