So far in Africa I have had many amazing experiences but Thursday has topped them all! I spent the morning holding the paw of our big male lion, Zero, while he was being operated on.
Zero had a collar on that we used for tracking him but the reserve decided that an implant would be more aesthetically pleasing. So Thursday morning Sarah, Joni and I tracked him down and waited until the vet arrived to dart him. Then we drove away as the vet, Beth, and Kobas followed him until the tranquilizer took effect. As soon as he was down Beth, Kobas and the vet got out to load him in their truck. While they were preparing him to be loaded they heard a roar and out of the bushes came 2 sub adult male lions charging at them. Kobas, with pistol in hand, and the vet, who was throwing rocks scared them off while Beth continued preparing Zero for Transport. We were quickly called in to block them off from the lions while they worked. Then we all rolled Zero on a blanket and carried him into the back of the truck. We transported him to a fenced off area in the reserve called a Boma to be operated on. Once there I helped unload him out of the truck, onto a table, tie back his paws and hold them out of the way while the vet and nurses cut a slit in his abdomen to place the implant in. While they were operating he would growl occasionally and lick his lips. There was a point where they were worried he was waking up so they gave him a bit more sedative and back to sleep he went.
All the while I was holding onto his forepaw on one side and Beth his other able to watch the whole process. Joni was put in charge of taking photos for the vet and Sarah switched off with Beth and I holding his paw so we could take photos. The whole procedure took 2 hours and then we carried him off the table and left him asleep in the boma with some water and a dead impala ready for when he wakes up. So far he seems to be doing fine. We hope him a speedy recovery.
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