The young elephant had been suffering for more than a week when it was first spotted by a ranger on foot patrol. Elphas Mnisi knew something was amiss when he came across the tracks of a lone elephant, much too young to be separated from the breeding herd. Judging by the size of the spoor, the animal was no longer a calf, but definitely not old enough to be wandering off on its own.
Close inspection of the tracks revealed that the animal was dragging one of its front legs, and Elphas immediately started tracking. Five gruelling hours later, with the light fading fast, Elphas found the elephant resting under a marula tree near the river. Through his binoculars he could barely make out the massive trauma to the leg, which the elephant was trying to keep off the ground. Knowing that the animal would probably still be in the same place by morning, Elphas returned to base, and Ertjies Röhm, the head of Mpumalanga Nature Conservation was notified.
This was happening in a game reserve managed by Mpumalanga Nature Conservation, and therefore not under the auspices of SANPARKS. Not having the infrastructure of the Kruger Park, Ertjies has to make use of independent contractors in cases like this. His call to Prof. Cobus Raath at about 8pm resulted in a mad scramble to prepare for all eventualities. At the time Cobus was hosting twelve veterinarians from the US, UK, Canada, Portugal and Spain, attending a post-graduate course in wildlife management at Ngongoni Lodge.
The wire snare is the poacher’s preferred method of “hunting”. A wire (for small game) or cable (for larger animals) noose is set on a game trail or near a watering hole, with the other end tied to a tree. Ideally, the head of the targeted animal should pass through the loop, which starts tightening when stopped by the animal’s shoulders. When the animal realises that it is trapped, the ensuing struggle progressively tightens the noose, promptly throttling the animal.
This seldom happens in real life. In most cases the animal is doomed to a slow agonising death that can take days or weeks. Presumably this particular cable snare had been set fairly low, where an animal like a bluewildebeest or zebra would have to lower its head to pass through. Poachers can be highly ingenious at times, and often know the bush and the animals well.
Snares and other traps are never set randomly or impulsively – the exact spots are carefully chosen. Our hapless elephant had somehow managed to get caught just below the knee of his right front leg. The power of an elephant, albeit a young one, is formidable. It being a cable snare, it cut through skin and muscle nearly down to the bone before the elephant managed to break the cable. This must have happened a week or more ago, as the rotting flesh was heavily infested with mature maggots. The stench was unbelievable. Ertjies shook his head with sadness and loaded his rifle. “No”, Cobus said. “I can save him.” “Are you mad?
Look at it – this animal will never walk again. Better to put him out of his misery and get it over and done with.” “No,” Cobus repeated. “We have an ethical obligation here – this problem is man- made, so we have no choice but to try. If it had been natural causes, I would have been the first one to euthanase it.” “Come on, Cobus, this animal will never walk again.”
The elephant had to be kept sedated and the vital signs monitored continuously. With the help of the winch and the vehicle, the elephant was soon next to the trailer. The trailer was unhooked from the 4×4, and canted over backwards to create an angled ramp. Another hour of sweating, cursing and improvising later, the elephant was loaded and the trailer hitched.
Once the elephant was offloaded in the bomas there was still some daylight left, so Cobus and the team of vets immediately got to work on the wound. Only once all the necrotic tissue had been removed did the full extent of the damage become apparent.
Cobus judged that, with a bit of luck, the blood supply to the extremity would still be adequate, so he cleaned the wound and packed it with a special concoction of his. Layers of gauze packing was followed by many metres of bandage. Over this a sturdy boot was made, to keep everything together.
After administering a massive dose of antibiotics and painkillers, Cobus revived the animal. It was groggy, and the ordeal seemed to have left it in shock. Cobus monitored the animal through the night via the CCTV cameras in the bomas. It was not well, and stood swaying on three legs till just before dawn, when it laid down again. This was not a good sign, and Cobus was not a happy camper.
Releasing the animal into the wild held too many risks and uncertainties. The fact that the elephant had lost its fear for man could lead to all sorts of problems later on. Cobus called an acquaintance who runs an elephant-back safari outfit, and when he came to have a look at the animal, it was love at first sight. This time the elephant had a proper, freshly painted transport cage, and there were no further toll-gate incidents.