Wandering Wildlife Vet

Now time for week number two! After Neuras, I went farther south into the real desert. Naankuse has a research site here called Kanaan. This site focuses on research pertaining to the spotted hyaena and the black-backed jackals. This was without a doubt the hottest place I have ever been with temperatures reaching around 115F (45C) during the day. Due to the desert climate, many of the species that are able to survive here have adapted to a different lifestyle than other individuals to cope with the hardships associated with living in the desert. This site is the largest of the three sites I have visited and has very low border fences that allow the animals to move freely between properties.

Sunday was our first day of work. We started the morning by collecting camera traps and hiking a bit to find signs of the spotted hyaena. The spotted hyaena are highly intelligent animals and have been persecuted for many years because of a bad reputation. Unfortunately, the Lion King (while it is a GREAT movie that I love very much) portrayed the hyaenas in a bad light as stupid, mangy poachers and many people have developed that feeling towards them. In reality, spotted hyaena are one of the most successful hunters and scavenge only around 30% of the time. They also have a very unique social structure that is female dominated (rarely, if ever seen in carnivores) where every single female holds a higher rank than any male. Due to the reputation that hyaenas have, their numbers are declining fast and they are in need of conservation help. (not my photo)

Monday morning we did road work in the southern part of Kanaan. Unfortunately, many tourists use this area to off-road, even though they are told they are not allowed, so we built a fence to keep cars on the road that is supposed to be used. Off-roading has a detrimental effect on the desert because there is such a thin layer of organic matter on the top of the sand that when driven over, it is compacted and nothing will grow through for sometimes decades. After lunch, we sorted the images from the camera traps we collected. We did a sleep out that night where we slept in sleeping bags inside of a concrete block that holds the water tank. Our goal was to see the hyaenas or other animals using the water trough. Unfortunately, we only had some visitors from the oryx but it was still nice to sleep under the stars.

The next two days we did game counts through the entire property. We also did some hiking to try to find new caves that the hyaenas are using. We also looked for scat which is being used in one of the research projects. After the work day was over on Wednesday, we went horseback riding to watch the sunset. I have really missed riding so it is nice to have a few opportunities to do it while I am here. Thursday was the blood moon so it was huge and very orange. It was beautiful to watch it rise over the sand dunes.

Friday was our last day at Kanaan. We started the morning very early to enjoy breakfast on top of a dune while watching the sunrise. The moon was still very bright and stayed up after the sun had risen. After our breakfast, we cleaned the animal enclosures. Kanaan is also home to 2 unreleasable cheetahs that we feed every afternoon. We cleaned their enclosure as well as the horse camp and the mongoose cages. After lunch, we analyzed the scat samples. Karl, the researcher, extracted hairs from each sample and then we identified what prey species the hairs came from under the microscope. This data will be used to identify the common prey animals that make up the hyaena diet. We enjoyed a fondue dinner and played some cards for our last night.

Saturday was my last full day in Namibia. We had a long drive back to Naankuse from Kanaan. We got back just in time to enjoy the braai and have a few drinks. I got to say goodbye to some of my friends that were still there. I’m actually going to miss the desert and the constant sun. It’s so much different from the heat I am used to back in Atlanta (no humidity in the desert). The warm months are almost over and it’ll start getting cold here soon so I am glad I had the heat while I did!

This afternoon I flew from Namibia to Johannesburg. I will be spending the rest of my volunteer time here in South Africa before my family meets me to travel around the country. I will start my next project working with a wildlife vet on Tuesday so for the next two nights I am staying at a bed and breakfast by the airport. Tomorrow I will be spending all day relaxing by the pool. I’m sure my body needs it. I have officially completed half of my volunteering and it has gone by so fast. I can’t wait for what’s in store for the rest of my time! Hopefully, service and WiFi should be better in South Africa so I will do my best to post more often again!