WILDLIFE ACT

A typical scene at a waterhole.

For the past 10 weeks I have been doing volunteer work in South Africa with an organisation called Wildlife ACT. Most of the time has been spent monitoring African Painted Dogs. There are only 3,000 of these dogs left in the wild and less than 400 in South Africa. The painted dogs live in a pack with a very strict social structure. There is a dominant 'alpha' male and a dominant alpha 'female' and these are the only two in the pack which breed. Often dogs will break away from the group, called a 'dispersal', to find other male or female dogs and form a new pack. The dogs may range over a considerable distance in search of new partners and when outside of the game reserves they are often attacked or killed by the community. The dogs are also very vulnerable to poachers who use snares to entrap game. The result is that painted dog populations are generally on the decline and they are an endangered species.

One of the painted dogs I have been monitoring.

The time I have spent here has been divided into two blocks on each of the five reserves which Wildlife ACT monitor: iMfolozi, Tembe, Mkuze, Hluhluwe and Thanda. Each reserve has been different. For example Tembe in the north borders on the border of Mosambique and is a sand forrest. The animals here have had limited contact with people and are extremely wild. At iMfolozi and Hluhluwe there are a good number of tourists and animals, while still dangerous, are a little more predictable. At Mkuze the terrain is very wild but the dogs have to be monitored twice every day because poaching is a big problem. Thanda is the only one of these reserve which is privately run and there are a number of other groups doing volunteer programs here at the same time.

A typical monitoring session, using telemetry to locate each dog pack..

Generally the routine has been to go out of the back of a utility vehicle at 5 in the morning. Using telemetry equipment we locate one own the dog packs and try to get a visual sighting on each of the dogs in the pack. In this way we can confirm that the dog is with the pack and that the dog is healthy. At least one or two dogs in each pack has a collar on it which sends out a signal we can pick up. Some reserves have more than one pack, iMfolozi for instance has 9 or 10 packs.

A cheetah at Thanda.

As well as monitoring the dogs we monitor elephants, lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyaena, rhinoceros and vultures, though this varies from reserve to reserve. During the 10 weeks I have been involved in the collaring of dogs and lions. These were amazing experiences. During the lion call-up we 'darted' nine lions. Blood and tissue samples were taken from each of them and two of the lions were moved to a different reserve. While moving the lions I was lifting the head of the unconscious lion when it suddenly sat up. The four fellows who were in the back of the ute lifting it suddenly dived over the side. It soon went back to sleep.

There were a number of other very exciting experiences with animals. At Tembe I managed to photograph a hyaena. the hyaena hasn't been seen there for 10 years and it was supposed that they had died out. At Tembe I also managed to see the two biggest elephants still alive in southern Africa. These two 'big tuskers' were amazing. I did manage to not only see what are called the 'Big Five': elephants, lions, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros, but added the next two: painted dogs and cheetahs to see the top seven wildlife attractions. 

The lion call up at Tembe. Taking blood and tissue samples.

The bird life here was also amazing and a good few hours were spent beside a waterholes photographing an exciting array of birds. I did spend some time at hides, which are a structure near a waterhole, watching the wildlife coming down to drink or to play in the mud. These allowed me to take  a good number of pictures. the whole experience was wonderful. You really felt like you were contributing to wildlife conservation as well as developing an understanding of the issues facing conservationists in South Africa. I also got to experience hands on work with these animals while coming close to other animals in the wild. Wildlife ACT have on their T-shirts: this is Zululand not Disneyland. I agreed, but it is better than Disneyland. 

For more information on Wildlife ACT they have a website:         http://www.wildlifeact.com/             or for more on my experience in South Africa go to:                                     eatenbylions.blogspot.com    

CURRUMBIN WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

When I was very young we would sometimes go to Palm Beach in Queensland for holidays. This was because I had a grand-uncle who lived there. My memories of these holidays include the long drive from Sydney, the sand modelling on the beach, the religious revival groups which seemed to always be camped there, melon and pineapple jam, promite, chicken pox (we all had it one summer) and blue bottle stings. However the most lasting memory is of going to the bird sanctuary at Currumbin. Here lorikeets would descend from the trees and land on your head and arms and feed from metal plates containing a mixture of bread and honey. It was maybe this more than anything else that gave me a life long love of birds.

The story of the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary begins in 1947 when beekeeper and flower grower Alex Griffiths began feeding the wild lorikeets to distract them from damaging his flower crop. At first this attracted local attention but soon grew into a popular tourist stop. In 1976 Alex made a gift of the sanctuary to the people of Queensland as a National Trust Property. In 1994 he also purchased a 4 ha rainforested property and donated it to the sanctuary. Alex Griffiths died in July 1998 but his extraordinary gift continues to flourish and attract visitors and tourists every year.

The sanctuary was originally known as the Currumbin Bird Sanctuary but as the park established a more diverse collection of reptiles and mammals, as well as birds, the name was changed to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in 1995 . It now houses one of the biggest collections of Australian wildlife species in the world. It continues to be run by the National Trust of Queensland on a non-profit basis. All revenue generated from the park goes back into its upkeep, to conservation research, to caring for sick and injured animals and to educating the public about Australian wildlife.

The park is set on 27 ha of land in the Queensland Gold Coast. It is surrounded by bushland. There are over 1400 mammals, reptiles and birds It is operated by 64 full-time and part-time staff. Other attraction include a miniature railway, which was added in 1964, the Tasmanian Devil enclosure, crocodile feeding and handling(a 5.3 metre croc), the snake and reptile show and the largest walk-through aviary in the southern hemisphere.

Eighteen months ago the park added an animal hospital. It is serviced by 4 vets and caters for over 4,000 animals a year. Recent patients at the hospital include a swan which was run over by a jet ski and a 3 metre long python. The hospital is expensive to run. For example the python cost the park $15,000 to look after. It has now laid 32 eggs.The hospital also caters for injured native animals and birds brought in from outside the park. A large proportion of the mammals at the park are nocturnal so the park also run a night program. The night program includes an Aussi barbeque.

The park has an added attraction, the Green Challenge. This is a high ropes and obstacle course. It provides a tough work out and is designed to build an individuals confidence. It includes a popular Tarzan swing.The course can be utilized by organizations and companies as a team building exercise for employees and staff members. For children there is Wild Island. Here children can experience what it is like for animals to survive in the wild. It has proven extremely popular with children.

Over 30,000 school students visit the sanctuary each year. Many Australian and overseas tourists make this a stop on their travels. One tourist site I looked at suggested this was a perfect start for a wildlife tour of Australia's top end. I know the impact this had on me when I was young. Given a chance to take young people to Movie World or Currumbin it is an easy choice.......