Happy Holidays from The Explorers Club

The Explorers Club started a new tradition this year. Headquarters in New York asked Explorers Club Members around the globe to share our experiences with our fellow explorers by contributing photographs for a special holiday gallery which they are sharing on The Explorers Club website.

This is an African photo collage I contributed to the gallery. Rhino darting in Marakele National Park, gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, meeting meerkats in the Kalahari, climbing dunes in Namib-Naukluft National Park, getting wet at Victoria Falls in both Zimbabwe and Zambia and diving in Mozambique.

Happy Holidays from all of us at The Explorers Club! Keep exploring!

Owlet silhouette in Marakele

It is so rare to see the nocturnal owl in the wild. I had a confirmed sighting once in Vermont on a midnight full moon snowshoe hike but taking pictures at midnight was pointless. These are not much better but ...

pearl-spotted owlet

Adding a Rhino to RhODIS®

First, the ranger helicopter darts the rhino with a sedative from the air

There are many perks to working for a conservation organization in Africa and one of them surely is being able to participate in an animal capture in the bush. And that is exactly what I did this week in the Waterberg with the vet and ranger team at Marakele National Park as part of the RhODIS® project.

RhODIS® (Rhino DNA Index System) is a project that was initiated by the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory of the University of Pretoria in order to help with the plight of the rhinos. The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory collects DNA samples of rhinos across the country in order to create a database using the unique DNA profile of individual rhinos. The goal is for all rhinos to be on the system to deter poachers and assist in forensic prosecutions.

the rhino's pulse is carefully monitored throughout sedation

RhODIS® was first used in a rhino poaching case in 2010 and resulted in a Vietnamese citizen being sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for having rhinoceros horns from poached rhinos in his baggage when he was apprehended at OR Tambo International Airport.

DNA samples are collected for the data base

South African National Parks (SANParks) have partnered with RhODIS since 2010 and in association with the Forensics Science Laboratory of the South African Police Services have played a key role in the development and implementation of the RhODIS Kit for sample collection.

identification chips are inserted into the rhino horn and body

notching the ears helps w  identification in the field

measurements are taken

 

measuring the horn

I ♥ rhinos

afterwards we wait nearby until he revives

up and ready to reunite with the crash