JUST ANOTHER VULTURE

 

Today I cried again.  I cried because I had to make the decision to euthanize another vulture.  Why cry you ask?  Well let me explain.  

This unfortunate Cape vulture ‘survived’ a bolt of electricity that shot through his body as he landed on the Eskom T structure. This must have kicked him so hard that he was knocked out unconscious and landed with full force on the ground, temporarily paralysing him.  His adult mate flying with him did not survive and was found dead under the structure.

 

I collected him on a farm between Elliot and Ugie in the Eastern Cape, where he lay on his belly next to chickens in a fowl run.  He did not look good and my gut feeling was he had damaged his spine or pelvis.  I carefully loaded him on extra cushions to soften his journey of more than 2 hours over the gravel roads back home.  I travelled slowly over the rough terrain as I was carrying a very fragile patient. 

Back home we rehydrated him and injected him with painkillers but he would have to endure another 70km gravel road trip to the vet and back to have x rays done to ascertain if there was a spinal injury or not.  He did not look good and hardly put up a fight (a sure sign of a bird wanting to survive) and I seriously thought it was touch and go if he would pull through.

 

His xrays revealed no fractures and he had definite signs of feeling in both feet, so the process of trying to get him regain the use of his leg had to start.  This required him being put into a sling which is a modified baby carrier, with therapy on his legs every day.  By day 3 he still had not shown any inclination to eat and we then had to tube feed him to help him regain his appetite.  This worked and he ate from then onwards.

 

His routine every day was getting him out off his soft cushions, therapy, into the baby pram for the morning and then repeat in the afternoon.  He slept in my pantry in his crate at night to stay warm.  Every morning he would look at me in the eye and I would ask him if he would be able to do this.  When we were working his legs he would just patiently close his eyes and wait for the session to finish.  I often wondered what was going through his mind.

 

He sat quietly in his ‘pram’ initially but towards the end he fought hard not to be put back into the pram.  I know he was frustrated and I had to devise a method to stop him wriggling his way out of the carrier by using a dog lead to tighten the gap in the front section.  One day he had managed to loosen this lead and I found him with it around his neck as if he was going for a walk.

We had a glimmer of hope at one stage where he seemed to pull his legs underneath him but towards the end he would just drag them behind him pulling himself along on his wings.  You see there was nothing wrong with his wings and this was so hard to see.  That is when I realized that I would have to make the dreaded call.

So today I cried because….....

deep down you know that this is assisting reducing an already endangered species, deep down you were so hoping to see him pull his legs underneath himself and lift himself up to be able to stand again, deep down you wanted so badly to see this guy take to the skies again ……  so even if he was “Just another Vulture” for some, I cried because dam it hurts and I failed him!

PLEASE NOTE:

I would never cope with all of this emotionally and financially (specifically in this order) if it were not for the support of Kerri Wolter of VulPro (www.Vulpro.com).  She has guided me through many of these rehabilitation cases, taken on my badly injured birds, shared her expertise in assisting with all the vultures I have collected all over the Eastern Cape and Southern Free State.  More importantly she has also understood and supported me through all these tough calls and knows exactly how it hurts.   

Thank you Kerri for always understanding.

In Memory of all the vultures we have lost to this planet, may your soar free of pain and mankind.

DHL Vultures

Yesterday I sent two injured vultures up to VulPro again.  How do we do this?   We use DHL Supply Chain transport.  Over the years DHL has supported the plight of these precious birds and many a vulture has been transported in their long haul trucks.

 

Fleet 661 leaving Queenstown

Initially we used to use the Port Elizabeth depot which is a good 4 hours travel from Rookwood. The birds would be collected and taken to the depot before leaving Port Elizabeth usually late afternoon, early evening.  This was a long journey for them as often they would only reach the Pretoria depot just after midday the following day.

 

 

Things changed over the past years and now the trucks that run from East London through Queenstown are utilized and I just have to meet the truck at the Ultra City in Queenstown with my cargo of vulture/s depending on what needs to go to Vulpro for treatment.  This has cut down the travelling time for the birds which now is normally an overnight trip.  Graham from East London is very efficient and normally informs me early in the morning that he has an opportunity to load the birds and later confirms driver’s names, contact details, time of departure and estimated time of arrival in Queenstown to facilitate the process.  I am also extremely lucky as the owner of the Ultra City in Queenstown was once our farm neighbour here at Rookwood, and is always very accommodating with regard to our using his facilities in town.

one of many vultures ready for transport

So yesterday the pattern was no different, and my emotional feelings likewise.  Every vulture I have worked with has an individual personality and when one collects them, you can identify this immediately.  Some are easy going while some really give you a hard time.  Every time I load vultures for Vulpro, I know each one will react differently.  I  have to send them to get expert assistance and often medical treatment, that I cannot give them this side.  

So due to the horrific conditions of our 35km gravel road to town, I work out the time needed to load the birds, travelling time to get to town to be able to meet up with Fleet no 661 which has departed East London at 13h30 to meet it in Queenstown at 17h00.

DHL Fleet 661 with Thabo and Elliot

 

Yesterday’s precious cargo was one young Cape Vulture and one young White-back Vulture.   

 

The Cape Vulture was one of those thin dehydrated weak juveniles, which attempted to fly away from me three times before being caught.  She however has a problem in her leg joint so I knew best to send her up to Vulpro for further prognosis and treatment. 

 

The young White-back had been collected by a Free State farmer and definitely had injury to the wing and leg.  This little bird was one I really stressed about as it was picky eater.  Furthermore I could never release it here as we do not get White-backed vultures down this way.

 

young injured White-backed vulture

 

I meet Thabo and Elliot, the drivers of Fleet no 661, on time.  In actual fact a little bit earlier than normal.  Obviously no stop go road works from East London to Queenstown.  Elliot tells me that this is the third time they have transported birds for me. 

  

We transfer the birds into the crates that have been sent down from Vulpro thanks to Nadia Opperman in the Pretoria offices. 

What the rest of the truckers, who utilize this area,  must think, would be interesting to find out. 

 

Crates and vultures securely loaded and tied down, Thabo and Elliot greet with a blast of their hooter and off they head back to the N6 for the long journey of just over 850km to Pretoria.

From now on my emotions are on a high until I know that they are safely in the hands of Kerri and Vulpro.   This will never change as they are like children that I have sent out on a journey and I unable to travel with them.  As usual I wake up during the night, wondering and calculating how far they would be......... “through Bloemfontein by midnight, no wait, there are those stop go roadworks between Rouxville and Smithfield, which tends to delay traveling time” and “of course on the N1 that stretch near Kroonstad is also under construction”.   

DHL truck leaving the Ultra city in Queenstown

Morning comes and I eagerly await news from Kerri as to whether they are safely at Vulpro.  When the news comes through, the White-backed vulture is fine but has a broken wing, and prognosis on the Cape vulture is looking fairly good.  I can step down until………….the next time!

White-back vulture safely at VulPro

Why do you ask, do we not transport them any other way.  Vultures are tough guys.  I have over the years seen and collected birds, that I thought, if it had been a human, they would have given up living already. 

Cape Vulture safely at VulPro

I will never let a bird go, unless I feel they can endure the overnight trip to Pretoria.   DHL have assisted us for many years now and we are extremely grateful for this wonderful working relationship with them.  

So whenever you see these yellow long haul trucks, salute them and their drivers, they are truly DHL Vulture Angels.