In support of our ongoing collaboration with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, and Susannah Rouse, we decided to collar another female in the Asian Cities Family. I felt incredibly lucky to be there for my first collaring when KWS vet, Dr. Chege, was called in and he darted Rangoon at 8.45am
The car moved in to separate her from the rest of the family and she went down soon after, the collar was attached and tissue samples taken. When I wasn’t taking notes, I satisfied my curiousity by examining the soles of her feet and seeing how thick her tail hair was. The answer: Thick!
Around twenty minutes after she went down the antidote was administered and she was soon on her feet.
At this point she did not return to the family as usual, instead remaining to thoroughly examine the collar. She sniffed and tugged at it before proceeding to sniff the surrounding area.
We all breathed a sigh of relief as she eventually rejoined the others, collar still intact. After three days with them I felt like one of the family, so was a little saddened when we had to leave.