UWEC Day 4

Morning meeting

This morning I was requested to meet with Dr. Kateregga’s supervisor, Dr. Julius Kyaligonza (Manager, Animal & Horticulture Department). He wished to discuss with me some of the history of UWEC and how the institution came to be. We then proceeded to discuss the challenges that Uganda faces when trying to look after wildlife. Thankfully, unlike some other African countries, ANY wildlife that is on your land does NOT belong to you. Essentially the Ugandan Government, under the jurisdiction of the Ugandan Wildlife Authority, owns them in trust. However, as Julius emphasized, there is not cross-communication between the UWA, the Department of Forestry and the Department of Wetlands. So each organization may have its own interests and priorities for its mandates, and this may not coincide with full protection of wildlife. He stated there has been a push to try and amalgamate these agencies so more of an ecosystems approach can be used to protect the indigenous wildlife of Uganda. We then began to discuss issues of conservation medicine and management in a zoo setting, specifically at UWEC. Common problems that always need to be addressed are population management (due to space or resource limitations), animal husbandry and welfare, educational outreach to the public, and wildlife rescue management. There was much for improvement here at UWEC, but the perseverance of this institution really has inspired me and made me want to continue in wildlife and conservation medicine.

Morning feedings and Cattle treatments

Ankole bull

Leading him to the giraffe chute

After my conversation with Julius, I headed back to the hospital. Hameed said that we needed to do some treatments on the cattle in the Kidepo enclosure (giraffes, elands, ostrich, etope, ankole bull, and topi antelope). We began the usual feeding regimen by spreading browse and grass around the enclosure. We needed to treat the cattle with some insecticide to help against ticks, flies and such. Unfortunately, these cattle are semi wild, so we couldn’t just walk up to them and pour the insecticide onto their back, and various other needed areas. We actually managed to get the Ankole bull into the giraffe chute to restrain him enough. So I jumped up on the chute and began pouring the liquid onto his back. However, he also needed his sheath and testes sprayed as well. We tried as much as we could before he figured out how to turn around in the chute and squirm his way out (even with those giant horns!!!) Eventually one of the keepers managed to get close enough to treat the rest of him. Next, and much more challenging was the cow. The problem was that we could get close enough to her with the truck, but if we tried to restrain her, either by rope or pinching her nostrils, she would run off… We tried for about an hour and had to give up because she was getting too excited and she was making the other animals excited as well, especially the Eland.

As you can see, we had to be creative

That stubborn wild cow!

Training and feeding with Charles

Leading Charles around to forage

Later on in the day I was fortunate to hang out with Bruce and Mr. Takahashi, Charles the elephant’s keepers. They showed me what they feed him and we got to do some training with him. Bruce also gave me a bit of background on Charles (I apologize if I explained previously). Someone found Charles when he was only a week old in a community in northwestern Uganda. He was orphaned, as his mother was most likely killed for her ivory. The man brought him to UWEC and he was hand-raised by the keepers here. Again, Mr. Takahashi came from Japan to help look after him and train keepers here. It was very interesting to see the various straining methods Mr. Takahashi has used on Charles. Everything from making him present his feet for foot cleaning/nail trimming, to training him for blood collection. After his training session, we took him for a walk into the bush to allow him to exercise and eat some browse. This provided much enrichment for him, as this was a natural behavior of African elephants. 

He loves being out in the bush

Thirsty boy!

We then guided him back to his quarantine area so he could be fed. I was told that he was in the process of being weaned from milk (DHT milk, with some baby formula supplement) and hopefully would be fully weaned by mid June. He was 22 months old, so this process was only natural. Bruce explained to me that the process of weaning him was that he would always get the same volume of liquid but every few feedings he would get less and less milk, and be more accustomed to eating grass and browse. This would also be better for his digestive health. Too much supplement gave him diarrhea, not good. Once his milk was cool enough from being heated we poured it into a bottle and I was instructed to bottle feed him. Boy can he drink!

Job well done :)

There was an enclosure being specifically built for Charles, when he was to become much bigger. Again, this was the first time UWEC has successfully housed an elephant to be used for education and outreach. Bruce told me that he was frequently brought out for demonstration with the public, especially children, to educate about the importance of elephant conservation.