On 17August2010 we went up to the water punt koppies to do specimen collection of the cultural heritage site at Sondela. When we arrived there we were briefed on the different stone and iron ages and what tools they used to make their life easier. We then looked for the different artefact's and we filled in a specimen collectors form to show the location, what it was and who found it because we can't take the specimens off the site otherwise the heritage goes lost.
We found different artefact's such as flint(hand axes,shearers, spear and arrow heads), metal slag,pottery shards and grinding stones. All these artefact's were used as tools for all their different needs.
Flints: Middle and late stone age, used for hand axes,shearers, spear and arrow heads.(Tools were a bit smaller and flints were a very hard stone, most of it you could almost see through).
Pottery shards: Late stone age, used to carry water and other stuff
Grinding stones: Stone age, used to mole food, herbs and plants for medicine.
Metal slag: Iron age, proof that they made tools out of metal.
On the 26July we started with game capture. We started on Monday morning 06:00 with a pre-briefing from our conservation manager, where he told us about all the safety aspects and why we are doing the game capture.
After the briefing we started to unpack the truck and sorted all the poles so that we can erect the boma.The boma is built in a funnel form. We then laid out the cable and cleaned the pathway before we could put up the poles that keeps the cables tight. The cables are there for the sails to hang on, to open and close. There are two cables, one at the bottom and one at the top to hold the sails. Extra poles are put up at the point from where the sails are been closed. The reason for the extra poles are to put up camouflage with branches with leaves that nicely cover the sales when they are open. At each camouflage point there is two people that hides in there and wait for their alarm so they can close the sales ones the animals are in the boma. They have sails in the middle that closes as the animals move forward where the boma becomes thinner. At the end of the boma,there is a ramp where the animals will walk up into the truck and the truck also has different compartments that closes as the animals walk in so that we can keep the animals apart so they won't hurt each other. It is also important that the people does not smoke or urine anywhere near the boma area because the animals have a very strong sense of smell and that smell will scare them and prevent them from coming into the boma area.
When the boma was finished, we had the manager of the game capture check if everything was correct. after everything was checked the manager climbed into his chopper and started looking for the animals that we decided to catch at first. The animals we were catching firstly was Kudu's, primarily bulls. He started chasing the Kudu's towards the boma with his chopper. As the chopper gets closer it makes a beeping sound to warn the people that they must hide in their camouflage and be quiet. when the animals are in the boma he will let the first siren go and then all the people at the outside sails will close, trapping the Kudu's in the boma. Then he will chase them in the direction of the truck and as they get closer he will let the second siren go and they will close the first middle piece with the sails. He will then chase them into the last section and let the third siren go. When the animals are in the truck he will let the last siren go to let everybody know that they can open the sails again. When the animals are in the truck, they get sprayed with a stress reliever like stressenol to relax them for the transportation so that they won't stress out. We did the same with the Eland,Blesbok and Blue wildebeest we captured. All the baby kudu's were darted and taken to the rehabilitation centre to be looked after.
For the past two weeks I have been doing fire prevention by making firebreaks. The second year students did the planning of the whole thing and then presented it to the operational team to get approved. When it was approved, the first year students were briefed on what is going to be expected of them and all health and safety as well as the legal requirements.We had to make two big fire breaks around the Chalets and Makhato houses. When everyone new what was expected of them we started to implement the planning.
The equipment we used was, axes, pungas, hand saw, brush cutters, rakes and the slashers that was on the tractors. Our job was to clear the way for the slashers so they do not get damaged, cut and clean around the places that the tractors couldn't cut, we had to lift the trees by cutting all the branches that was close to the ground and clearing all the raw material from the site. We also removed all the dead trees fom the ground because it is very dry wood and will make the fire worse
I have been working at the wildlife centre throughout the whole year. My course that I am doing now have a lot more in depth information about animals in captivity.
Firstly I learned about the important of personal hygiene and the importants of keeping the animals environment clean. I cleaned cages myself so that I could get the experience.
The best part was when we learned about how and why animals boma's are build in a specific way. The preparation,feeding and animal behavior was the most interesting part of the course, where you learn why animals behave in a certain matter and how to avoid danger and injury.
I really found it interesting to do the fiscal work to gain the experience.
On the 5th of May myself and a few of the other students went to go capture Rhino's near Rust de Winter. The farmer had a problem with poachers on his farm. We were called in to help the vet to catch the rest of the Rhino's because the farmer sold them to someone else.
We started by being at the farm at 7am. We then waited for the vet to arrive where he told us what is going to happen and what was expected of us. He then got everything ready before we started. As he flew with his chopper to go look for the Rhino's, us that were part of the ground crew stared moving in the direction of the chopper with the trucks.
We were in contact constantly with the vet on the chopper by radio. As he darted the first Rhino we rushed towards the seen with the trucks. As we arrived at the seen, the ground vet put a cloth over the Rhino's eyes. We then helped to get the Rhino in the right position. The ground vet then woke up the Rhino and we helped leading the Rhino into the truck. After we made sure that the Rhino is safe and everything was alright we then proceeded to go look for the next Rhino.
The day was a great success and there was no problems. We caught four Rhino's for the day. I feel really honored to have been part of that experience.
a.We did a intense 2 week course on our theory to help with the guidingduringthe Easter holidays
b.It helped meto get more confidence when I am guidingbecauseI know more about the animals and can interpretstuff by just looking at them without knowing what it is.
c.I struggled to get all the information in my head in such a short time.
d.I learned a lot of interestingfacts about animals.
e.Just need a little more time to get the information in my head.
2.Roster
a.It just consist of when are we working where.
b.I got a chance to work everywhere, learned to be organized.
c.None
d.How to work in different sections of the workplace.
e.Maybe you can put us in the same workplace a bit longer, because if you only work their one day you start learning something and then you must move on to the next.
3.Welcoming
a.Welcoming the new guests and telling them about Sondela.
b.I am very friendly.Enjoy talking to the guests.
c.When it rained I had a lot of irritated guests and I was wet.
d.To be patient and read the guest.
e.When it rains they can organise us rainjackets.
4.Conservation
a.Everything in the field from closing roads to cutting grass.
b.I like working in the field.
c.Sun can be hot when working in field.
d.How to cut “voorbrand” next to the pathways.How to use the brushcutter correctly.Reasons for closing wet roads.
e.Start working earlier so that the sun doesn’t effect you so badly.
5.Wildlife Centre
a.Working with animals and taking care of them,
b.Like feeding the animals and cleaning cages.
c.None
d.How to take care of animals and how to keep its place clean.
e.I want to learn more stuff about the animals and how you treat them when sick.
The day after the brush cutter course I was sent into the field to go cut the grass next to the roads to prevent fires from jumping over the roads and to keep the side of the roads neat and tidy. I learned how to use the brush cutters in the correct manner in the field and how to look for dangers that might damage the brush cutter.
The next day I worked at the wild life centre and I learned how to keep the place neat and tidy by cutting all the dead branches hanging from the trees and taking out dead trees. I also learned how to keep the place neat by raking.
