Translocation of Wild Animals in Tropical Jungles Is No Piece of Cake

We have seen quite a number of ducumentaries where wild animals were tranquilised and translocated in the wide open Savannah or African wilderness. Modern facilities such as helicopter, crane, huge truck and lorries, are being utilise in translocation of wild animals. Gone are the days where a hunter need to hire 10 to 20 tribesman and at times soldiers, bringing equal amounts of cattle to carry supplies and provisions, in an hunting or adventurous expeditions. However, the situation remains the same over centuries in the deep jungle of tropics. In Malaysia, the species that most frequently required translocation are the elephants, Malayan tapirs, Malaysian tigers, Malayan Sun bears, and leopards. And unfortunately, these animals had to be translocated due to their shrinking habitat, caught by snare wire, and wildlife-human conflict.

Sun bear caught in snare illegal set by poachers

The tropical rain forest is extremely dense with vegetations, it is almost impossible to find a flat grassland like the Steppes and Savannah, unless the area was previously cleared. Therefore, it is impossible to bring in heavy machineries such as huge trucks, lorries and cranes, or even pick-up trucks . Though, we may still acquire services of local tribesman from time to time, as undeniably they are excellent trackers and pathfinders. Most of the time, around 15 to 20 (if the number is available) wildlife rangers will be deploy for wildlife translocation operation, they will provide the brute strength to move the wild animals, plus crate, out of the jungle. Or in the cases of elephant translocation, two tame and trained elephants will lead the wild elephants out, it would be impossible to move a sedated nor a crated elephant with human energy. Lorries will park at the edge of the jungle awaiting the entourage of elephants from the deep jungle.

Tame female elephants leading the wild young bull out of the thick jungle

And for the same reason, we can only track or trap these wild animals, unless they were unfortunately caught in a snare. It is not an option to round them up in a boma (permanent or make shift areas to enclose individual or herd of wild animals), as they would not be visible under the thick vegetations and undergrowth beyond 5 feet, and definitely we will not get an aerial view of moving animals, only the lush green tree tops. Due the the high risk involved with tracking carnivores such as tigers, leopards, and their relatively small size that could easily dissapear in the woods, these animals are usually trapped. They are then tranquilised and carried out either in a net or crate to the awaiting transport vehicle. If unfortunately they are injured, too young or too old to be release into a new habitat, these animals will be sent to rescue centres or the zoo.

Elephants loaded onto customised lorries to be translocated to new habitat

As a person with a wild heart, thus I did not and hopefully will never succumb to the "comfort" of an office or clinic, and prefer to work in the field. It is truly sad to see these animals having to be confined within captive situations such as a rescue centre or a zoo. If you look carefully, despair can actually be seen in these animals' eye. We do not think that animals have facial expression, but I have seen boredom, desparation, anger, and sadness so clearly shown. It makes me wonder, when we rally and lament for exploitation of human rights, no doubt many still need our support and aid, but at least human can speak up for themselves, who would speak up for the animals? And even if there are people who put their hearts and souls in this, are they loud enough? After all, animals do not have a right to vote, and they do not have any monetary contribution to give. Logging, plantations, mining, agriculture, development, etc will never stop as human population and economy continue to grow. However, what will happen when all forest are fell and all wild animals are extinct? Would human be able to exist alone, well perhaps with a few cats and dogs, also cockroaches (they have out live the dinosaurs, most likely they would outlive humans too).

Wild and Zoo Animal Veterinary Medicine: It's difficult, but not impossible

Though in both cases of wild and domestic, veterinarians are dealing with animals, and the obvious difference is that one will definitely bite, scratch, butt, gore, swipe, etc. while the other are tame and easy to handle, yet this is not true in all cases. At times, hand rise wild animals can be so tame, that they are more adorable than a grouchy snarling domestic. And some guard dogs are not one to play a fool with, they could easily rip our throat out if we traspass onto theit territory.

From veterinary medicine point of view, I have always treated all animals with the same medical principles I have learned in vet school. Myself and my fellow classmates did not have the privlege of being trained in wild and zoo animal medicine. Thus, I have to do the next  best thing, treating all sorts of wild species into 6 main groups: bovine, caprine, equine, feline, canine and avian, as a basis of my approach when I first started in this field. And honestly, I still use that approach from time to time whenever I come across any new speciess, on top of experiences and knowledges accumulated throughout the years.

The most distraught matter face by most if not all wildlife and zoo veterinarians,  are actually not about how to treat these animals, but the extremely low percentages (perhaps less than 10%) of successfully treated and recovered cases face. Livestock veterinarians may have the option of culling an unproductive or ill animal, to halt unnecessary cost and most importantly, to prevent the spread of disease. Veterinarians in the small animal clinics may get patients that has just begin to get sick, this of course due to owners' own dilligence, thus enhancing the chances of successful treatment. Wild and zoo animals, may be tame or able to tolerate close human contact or presence, they still possess the wild instinct to appear healthy and in good form, in order to avoid predation and being outcast from its group. Thus, unless the caretaker are very observant and know their animals well,  most of the time, animal are usually terminal when admitted or noticed to be ill. At this point of time, treatment is usually a futile effort. Also, culling of wild animals is usually not an option. Be it a precious endangered species, be it an expensive acquisition, be it a gift from the royal families or dignitaries, or culling would bring about violent outcry from the public. Therefore, the phrase: "Prevention is better than Cure" is upmost important, in cases where possible,  to be practice in the care of captive wild animals.

Prevention in terms of providing proper and balance diet, with ample supplements as we would never be able to provide all nutrients that the animal would able to obtain if it is roaming free in lush wilderness. Healthy animals is less likely to succumb to diseases, as we humans are. Take extra care in times of mating and calving seasons. Not only of traumatic injuries that may arise due to competitions between the animals, also the physiological stress animal is in due to changes of body condition, such as prgnancies, parturition, and lactation. Vaccination should be given if possible, without causing extreme stress to the animals. Also, we must always weigh the efficacies of vaccine used, and whether it may mutate in wild animals thus causing disease, instead of providing protection. In all cases, use dead vaccine, instead of live attenuated vaccine to avoid this problem from arising. Quarantine, medical examination and laboratory testing of newly acquired animals are most crucial, to prevent the entry of unknown, foreign and possible highly pathogenic and lethal agent of disease into our establishments. We should always remember, entry of pathogens is extremely easy, eradication of it on the other hand may be impossible.

For many veterinarians, wild and zoo animal medicine is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. However, they are actually not that different. With some logical and creative thinking (out of the box, but not out of the world), loads of determinations, lots of heart, and never give up hope, veterinarians would be able to tackle wildlife cases. Of course, be careful in the handling of wild animals, most would required to be anaesthetised before even the simplest physical examination could be carried out. Anaesthesia of wild animals, however, is another chapter all together. Doses and individual variations within the species are astounding.

Up coming: Reptile Workshop in Melaka Zoo

We are planning to organise a workshop on Reptile Medicine for veterinarians at Melaka Zoo sometime in November 2010. This is the second workshop for veterinarians in Malaysia, since the one we had in June 2006, 1st SEAZA Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarian Training Course. Participants came from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. The 1st training course was a general introduction to wild and zoo animal medicine. We covered all groups of animals, including hoofstocks, carnivores (feline, canine, bears, civets), primates, birds, and reptiles in just 5 days. It was quite an exhausting experience, but a great one as well. In fact, I was so busy organising and keeping everything running like clockwork, I was sick before and all the way through the course. By the end of the course, I have disseminated much of my germs to most of the trainers, and perhaps some of the participants as well. Thousand apologies :-p.

This time around, we will only concentrate on diseases, medicine, and diagnostic methods (haematology, serum biochemistry, radiography, ultrasonography, and endoscopy) in reptiles. The great news is that Taipei Zoo, Taiwan ROC will fully sponsor this course.Therefore, the workshop is FOC! We hope to be able to open this workshop to veterinarians working in wild and zoo animal medicine within the Asian region. However due to the intensive nature of the workshop, we would only be able to accomodate 30 participants in total. Among the instructors are Dr Jason Chin, Deputy Director, Taipei Zoo; Dr Jane Yu, Chief Veterinarian of Animal Medical Centre, Taipei Zoo; and Dr Sera, Senior Veterinarian, Head of Reptile Section, Animal Medical Centre, Taipei Zoo. Also, one of the leading person on Reptile Medicine in Asian region, Dr Paolo Martelli, Head Veterinarian of Ocean Park Hong Kong, will also come in as one of the instructors, to share his immense experiences and knowledge.

We will be having the first meeting to discuss on this matter on 2nd August, it seems quite promising that this workshop will go through. We would expect much fun and loads of knowledge sharing during this 2-day workshop. Indeed, something to look forward to :-).

"3-horned" giraffe

When we were in the process of transfering a pair of subadult giraffes from Melaka Zoo to Taiping Zoo, I happen to notice this peculiar look on this particular male. It sort of have a horn-like structure on its forehead. Perhaps I was not paying attention all these while. Apparently his sire has this horn-like structure too. Come in quite handy when he goes into a butting battle, "ouch" to the opponent!

However, not all giraffes have this "extra" horn, obviously his partner has a smooth curvy forehead. Both of them looked so adorable  in the picture. Not so in real life, just too big to be cute and cuddly. Plus, the stress of putting them in the crate, seeing the crates being lifted up by the crane 20 feet of the ground, fearing that the cable may snap under pressure and crate and giraffe crashing down....Well, none of that happen, both were successfully and safely translocated.

Animals were transfer during the night as this would eliminate the risk of animals being exposed to extreme heat en route to their new home. This especially critical for hoofed animals, they are much more easily stressed and succumb to hyperthermia (heat stress). Even if the vehicle has a covered roof, there is always a risk of vehicle being stuck in traffic, and high environmental temperature could not be dissipated as when vehicle is not moving, air remains stagnant and heat tends to build up rather quickly. Especially, if the animals is placed within a completely covered transport, with just a few aeration holes at the side. Animals have to be transported in an enclosed crate as most animals will remain calm when their vision of the "outside world" is impaired. In which case, preventing violent struggle by the animals to escape from the crate, causing possible fatal injuries. Thus, animal translocation programmes are always planned carefully, so as translocation happens either at night or early morning, whether it is the beginning, middle or the end of the journey.

Malayan Tapir Twin Birth

History was made when Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) twins were born in Wildlife Conservation Centre, Sungai Dusun, Selangor, Malaysia. This is the first ever reported twin birth of this species worldwide. And the most amazing thing was, they were born 13 days apart!

The female, the big sister, was born on 27 May 2007, named May, obviously. While her brother was born on 8 Jun 2007, named Junior.

Junior still retain his spot and stripes, whereas May's coat had changed to that of an adult tapir. This is not just because Junior is younger by 13 days, he was relatively less healthy than May since birth, until he was about 4 months old.

Here's May catching a nap. You can still see her stripes and spots vaguely here.

Junior is trying to get a taste of grass. Curious little thing. However, tapirs are generally browsers that feed mainly on leaves, and not grazers that eat grass like cattle.

They were still so attached with each other when they were 1 year old. Both are resting with their dam in the night stall, to escape from the heat of noon.

The beginning of a new chapter

Over 8 years of service in wild and zoo animal medicine and management, more than 15 years, if counting the years I started to volunteer at Zoos and Conservation Centre. Loads of experience and knowledge accumulated, hopefully I have manage to disseminate some as well, to the benefit of people and animals in this field.

My favourite have always been the cats: big and small, striped, spotted or not. Never would I imagine that I would one day be handling snakes, and be good enough to teach others on how to handle snakes. Was unable to even look at pictures of snakes, afraid that it would came alive and drop out of the pages. Also, couldn't bring myself even to touch snake's moulted skin, thinking that if I touch it, it would magically turn into a snake again. Such imagination.

I remembered the first time holding a snake, bared hand (!!) at Taiping Zoo. Was already feeling so 'yucky', but can't show that I'm actually terrified and horrified. (Didn't want to be the vet that can't handle snake, sure it is a she) Then I heard a crack, I thought the snake broke its vertebrae (back bone) as it was struggling and twisting, and I was holding very tightly. Alas, I let go. Luckily it did get to bite my assistant, or else he would scarred for life, physically, whereas  I would scarred for life too, emotionally. Never really found out what made that crack sound, did somebody broke his/her seams, not mine...hmmm???

Anyway, if you just can't stand physically touching a snake, use tools to remove the snake instead. Here, I'm using a snake hook. You could use anything, broom stick, dust pan, bins, as long as it does not cause injuries to the snake. Or, like I used to do (before working in the zoo): shut myself in my room, make sure all holes are sealed and snake can't get in, and go to sleep. Snakes would leave by next morning. They are naturally not human-friendly and are just passing by.