Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 1 Module # 13 Component # 2 Introduction Bomas for quarantine or auction purposes should be constructed in a similar manner to the temporary release bomas. However, they are generally smaller and extra provision is made for sorting animals and bleeding them for diseasetesting purposes. The bomas may be of a temporary structure without permanent water. It would be dangerous to skimp on their construction, though, as the danger of escape from these bomas is possibly greater than from the release boma, as the animals are subjected to more pressure. Apart from the provisions already listed under general boma construction, corridor crushes have to be incorporated to allow for bleeding the animals at least twice during the period of quarantine, and for their eventual loading for translocation. Animals are likely to be kept under quarantine conditions for longer periods than they are held in temporary release bomas, which requires larger inputs of food and management. Animals held in quarantine incur great expenses that are later reflected on the final sale price. Ideally, therefore, the herd intended for longterm confinement should be separated out prior to the quarantine period, so as to remove aged animals and others that have less sale value. Circumstances requiring long-term pen arrangements would obviously favour the capture of weaners, sub-adults close to breeding age, or prime bulls destined for established game farms requiring new blood lines.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 2 Multiple all-weather pens are required to facilitate multipurpose management of animals for an indefinite period. Situations include the following: Temporary accommodation of animals for: o Auctions o Direct sale o Quarantine, both import and export o Observation and medical treatment o Sale of individual bulls for breeding or hunting o Taming o Breeding Sorting-out facilities to separate or add individuals Facilities to bleed animals for blood testing Additional bomas to vacate occupied bomas for the purpose of cleaning All-round viewing of penned animals without interfering with boma management Variety of pen sizes to enable large herds to be split and rematched for better resale options Controlled unloading and loading of animals into transport of any size and description Easy daily management using minimal staff Provision of sufficient lighting for after-dark management when necessary Setting up of a small veterinary office
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 3 Description of Individual Pens Each of the larger pens comprises a back wall straddled by a roofed area covering two pens large enough to accommodate all the animals in the pen. Each of the pens is covered with grass bedding during occupancy. Concrete food and water troughs are dug in, so that the tops are 100 mm above the ground. They are set against the side and accessed by staff via a port from the corridor. The number of troughs depends on the size of the pen two of each for the larger pens and one in the smaller pens. The pens are constructed to a height of 3 m for the general pens, using 100 mm treated gum poles. They are set one against the other on top of channel iron to provide for drainage beneath and to prevent the poles from rotting. The insides of the poles are varnished to head height to protect the animals from the tar.
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Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 5 Inside each of the larger bomas a training wall is built in the same configuration as the main wall. The wall commences at an angle, starting opposite the inside upright of the pen gate at a distance equal to the gate width. The pen gate opens and locks against it, forming a funnel from the pen into the corridor. In the corridor the adjacent gate in the four-way gate system is closed so that the animals proceed down the corridor in the required direction. As the animals enter the corridor, the pen gate is closed to trap them in the corridor. The training wall extends from the gate position to 2 m from the opposite wall. When the pen gate is closed, the animals can move around it and are not trapped. With the wall set as a funnel, the animals run around it in the normal way, only to find themselves in the corridor. The training wall doubles as a wall for them to hide behind when staff enter with feed.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 6 Description of Gate Systems The pen gate is hinged from both sides. It is able to open from either side either into the pen to move animals in or out of the pen. Being wider than the passage, it locks against the passage to accommodate animals coming from either side.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 7 Figure 14.8 A four-way gate system for pens. The four-way gate systems in the corridors are so engineered that the two gates used can fit in any one of the four positions, depending on whether the animals are to cross over or turn either left or right. The gates are hung on lugs with pins dropped in to secure them, acting both as hinges and as locks swinging from either direction. During loading or unloading, prior to moving the animals, all the intermediate and pen gates are set to provide the only passage between the ramp and the pen, supervised from the walkway. After the transfer of game, the gates are set in routine management mode, leaving the cross-corridors open to feed and tend to the animals. These management corridors are further guarded with a slide gate at the end to close off the facility and to close behind the animals when they are loaded or unloaded through the portable ramp.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 8 Management Facilities Redarting the animals for bleeding purposes is extremely costly and unnecessary, as the task is easily done using a physical restraint system. An internal raceway is built into the system between the offloading ramp and the pens, and the animals can be coaxed through it to establish a routine as soon as they are sufficiently tame. A swing gate within the system allows them to pass through back into the system or, if set in the opposite position, channels them through one of the restraining systems where they are individually restrained. Immediately before the restraining device, one of the raceway walls is modified as a movable hinged wall some 10 m in length. This can be swung open to accommodate a few animals at a time and can then be closed by returning the wall back in stages to force the animals through. All the internal walls are solid to prevent the animals from being injured. Specialised equipment is necessary for quickly processing animals under minimal stress conditions. Reasons for needing to process animals include: Tranquillisation Sorting Bleeding Treatment Pen cleaning Management familiarisation, such as preparation for loading Upon unloading, animals may be funnelled through a multi-gated system, which does not stress the animals while sorting them into their required groups, should this be required. Game Management Africa has designed a specialised swing gate system that can be attached onto standard capture crush facilities to funnel animals into separate pens or to release them back into the wild. Once the animals are sorted, they can either be funnelled back into the system or onto a ramp for loading. The method provides for the animals to be manipulated into one of the four pens or back through the system, should further sorting be required. To remove individual animals, it is also possible to use gates in the corridor system rather than to funnel all the animals through the sorting system.
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Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 11 Crushing Facilities Different systems are available for handling the different-sized animals, depending on individual requirements. Systems for small, larger and large animals are discussed below. Simple Y arrangements to restrain animals the size of impala are 150 mm wide at the base, up to a height of 700 mm. They then open out to 800 mm at the top, 1250 mm above the ground. Three units are placed end to end into which the impala jump and are caught fast in the V, their hooves above the ground. As the animals are caught, assistants on either side pull them forward until several are assembled one behind another. Here they are processed before being pulled through onto solid ground and returned to the pen. A roof is placed over the first section to encourage the animals to jump forward rather than up. For larger animals, two systems have been devised, one to capture individual animals for specific treatment, and the other a slightly longer unit whereby several animals can be restrained at the same time to bleed for quarantine purposes. Both systems are arranged end to end so that either may be used in the same passage. The larger unit, some 5 m in length, is formed from a parallel set of walls solidly built from steel. One side is raised to 2 m in height and the other side to 1 m. A canvas curtain hanging from the top into the crush forms the top section. Each end is blocked with a solid slide door to allow the animals to enter and leave through the system.
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Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 14 To operate the system, four or five animals are let in and the door behind them closed. Staff on the inside immediately lift the canvas sufficiently to grab an animal close to them and pull it against the edge. While others help, competent veterinarians quickly bleed the animals from the jugular vein. The animals are then released, the curtain dropped and the opposite slide door opened to let them through. The individual system operates in much the same way; however, it is smaller and has a hinged side folding in and squeezing the animal. The head is restrained through a perpendicular gap and a small entrance gate is opened to allow a veterinarian in on the opposite side to attend to the animal. The third system is for large animals the size of buffalo and eland, and is basically an enlarged form of the Y design for impala. It has substantially built V - shaped sides and a false floor on which the animal is trapped between two slide doors. As the floor is dropped, the animal falls through and is held in the V. Once the animal has been treated, one side folds open and the animal drops to the ground. It passes on into the crush, back to the pen. 1 Small side gates are placed in the corridor sides to allow staff access to position themselves on either side of the restraining units.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 15 Because of their long necks, giraffes require a separate design of restraining crush. To prevent damage to the neck, there is a specially designed giraffe restraint, based on a design used in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, for administering veterinary procedures to adult giraffes. To restrain young giraffes, the design was modified with a hinged front end allowing them to move forward after restraining, as they dislike reversing. The system permits the bleeding of several animals, one after the other. General veterinary procedures, such as hoof trimming as in a zoo situation, are not required and therefore the number of inspection hatches in the original design was reduced, while still allowing for bleeding from the jugular.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 16 Basically the restraining crush is a simple, steel-plated upright crush into which the animal is coaxed and boxed, using poles thrust in behind on an adjustable slot to keep the animal pressed fully forward against the front. The front portion is hinged to allow the animal to pass through once tests are complete. The side near the top is constructed with a deep V to accommodate the throat and neck of the giraffe. A large conveyor strap 300 mm in width can be placed over the giraffe s withers and secured to the opposite side to prevent the animal from jumping up. The inspection plates on either side of the chest area are removed and a similar strap is passed beneath the animal, under its chest up the other side and out onto a turntable arrangement that is tightened to provide full support beneath, against the strap over the withers. Although provision was made in the experimental design to secure the animal from above and below, it is not considered necessary for young animals. The giraffe s head is arrested and haltered and the eyes blindfolded. The animal is held in this position to permit blood to be taken from the jugular vein after slight sedation with Azaperone. Subsequently, the system has proved unnecessary as bleeding is facilitated quickly by crushing the animal against the far wall of the corridor or against a gate of the standard crush system, using a board the same width as the corridor. The board is mounted in front of a chase vehicle and the animal s head held while standing on the bonnet, with little struggle from the animal.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 17 Multiple Pens of Differing Sizes In the Game Management Africa complex, up to sixty pens are provided. They vary in size from individual pen systems, up to large communal pens 30 30 m in size to cater for all wildlife species, including elephant calves and giraffes. The pens provide for different herd sizes, ranging from individuals, pairs and small groups to larger groups, even a complete natural herd. This is necessary for auction purposes, as animals generally sell well in smaller groups than larger ones. Where a herd is split, they are sold with the knowledge that the split groups belong to one another. Bulls are sold for better prices when sold alone, particularly when they have trophy value, depending on their horn length. Smaller pens also allow one to build up viable herds from small captures to provide either for capture safaris (discussed previously), or for the removal of individual males or a few select females from established herds in small game parks (to improve gene diversity, for example). Pens are changed once a week for cleaning purposes and for resting occupied pens. In this way, the animals become accustomed to moving in the corridors, so that when management actions are necessary or the animals eventually are loaded, the operation can be carried out with fewer staff and with minimal stress on the animals.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 18 Public Viewing of the Animals As the animals need to be viewed in their respective pens prior to an auction, a separate system of walkways is established over the corridors, looking directly down on the pens. These walkways are accessed from stairs at several points around the boma and are arranged so that all the animals in the system may be viewed in as short a space of time as possible. In addition, it allows all the animals to be physically checked at least twice a day to review management policy. All the pens are visibly numbered against the back wall for record and auction purposes, so that problems can be quickly located and remedied. Animals are less stressed from people staring from the top than from the side, and they quickly ignore any threat from there. From the top, all the animals in the boma can be viewed either for sale purposes or to locate possible injuries easier, as the animals are unable to hide behind one another. The animals are also more easily supervised when transferred from pen to pen or when loaded, as they can be followed from the top through the various gate systems, viewed through the open slatted walkway. Moreover, the system prevents the possibility of visitors accidentally leaving a gate open or being trapped in a corridor with the captured animals. It also separates the visitors from staff who routinely feed and water the animals below.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 19 Simplified Multiple Loading and Unloading Options Generally, animals received in the boma do not all arrive together, even for an auction, arriving rather as they are caught over several days. By contrast, animals departing from an auction all need to be loaded the same day, requiring the use of several ramps at the same time. Operators are normally contracted to undertake the transport from the pens. If sufficient trucks to transport the animals all at once are not available, other units of different sizes and bed height need to be hired. Adjustable ramp heads are required to cope with the variation in sizes. As a rule of thumb, animals dislike moving from a wide situation into a narrow one, both into or out a truck. To lessen this problem, two ramps are built into the system: a wide ramp of 2 m for unloading, and a narrow one of 1 m for loading. An additional portable loading ramp is constructed, which can be moved about to fit on any one of the cross-corridors. The portable ramp is beneficial in that animals can be loaded nearer to the individual pens, straight down the passage adjacent to the pen they occupy. The portable ramp is fully adjustable and has its own passage door and ramp head gate system.
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Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 21 Easy Daily Management The complex is designed so that animals can be transferred easily by two people from one pen to another, to vacate pens on a weekly rotational basis for cleaning purposes. The cross-corridors all open on one side near the food storage shed. Food is carted in here and dispensed on either side of the cross-corridors into the individual troughs, through the ports cut specially for this purpose. At the entrance to each of the corridors, a tap is placed from which a length of hosepipe can be drawn down the corridor to fill the troughs on either side. It is important both for good management and the well-being of the animals that a strict routine be adhered to. The animals quickly respond to routine, which reduces their stress. Efficient management of the pens is required and daily management activities must take place only in the morning and late afternoon, leaving the animals to rest quietly during the heat of the day.
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Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 23 Water and Food Troughs Concrete troughs are manufactured using a steel mould with an inside and an outside steel box fitted into one another. Reinforced concrete is poured in between, using a 1:2:4 mix of cement, stone and sand. Steel mesh and lengths of reinforcing steel offcuts are placed within the mix to provide strength. When the trough is removed from the mould, the concrete is left to set for 24 hours and then submerged in water to cure. Two sizes are manufactured: 950 mm long 560 mm wide 380 mm deep for the larger troughs, and 490 mm long 410 mm wide 320 mm deep for the smaller troughs. These sloping front troughs are buried down to 100 mm above the ground near the corridor fence. From here they may be replenished from the corridor through a flap in the fence.
Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife 24 Additional Facilities Provision of lighting facilities Powerful tower lights should be placed around the complex in order to deal with possible disturbances among the animals soon after their arrival before they settle down. The lights may also become necessary from time to time to meet loading deadlines and to effect early departures, for example. Veterinary office A small veterinary office should be set up with sterile conditions for sample collections, postmortems and security for the storage of dangerous drugs. Registered quarantine station The complex must be fully registered as a quarantine station complying with all international quarantine conditions. This includes a perimeter fence to standard, footbaths, storage facilities for food for the entire quarantine period, and facilities for carcass disposal.