The BEST and the WORST of People!!

27 December 2007 was supposed to be our day off!! Well that was the plan anyway until Dr Helena Fitchat received a call about a young zebra who was wondering down the main road in the seaside resort of Zinkwazi!!

Fortunately, some local residents were able to herd her into the garden of one of the houses, where they kept vigil over her until we could arrange to rescue her.

Moving a zebra is not an easy task – they are very strong animals and can be very dangerous when approached – a kick from a zebra can inflict serious injury. So we needed to assemble a group of people, find a vet willing to go out with us, secure a horse box for transportation, fetch shade cloth and the CROW dart gun and procure the correct drugs needed to dart the animal so that she could safely be trans-located.

This is where we saw the very BEST in people – everyone we called on was more than willing to drop what they were doing and assist us. A couple of hours later Helena had managed to put all the pieces of the rescue together and we were on our way up to Zinkwazi, about an hour out of Durban.

On our arrival we found that quite a crowd had already gathered to witness what is a very unusual event. The ladies who had been keeping vigil over the zebra had been there all day, watching her and trying to keep her calm. People from KZN Wildlife were also there, waiting to help. She was quite settled and we felt that we would be able to dart her and have her moved quickly.

Once darted, we waited for the sedatives to take effect in the hope that we could then just lead her into the horse box and be on our way. Unfortunately the drugs did not work quite as anticipated, and she remained very much aware of what was going on, so much so that when we tried to usher her into the horse box she panicked and started running around wildly. No amount of coaxing worked and the vet decided that we needed to use a different drug.

So we set off back to Ballito to fetch what was needed. In the meantime Helena stayed behind with the zebra and this is when we saw the very WORST in people. The owner of the property had some visitors who decided that they could get her into the horse box using brute force and that no matter what, they would subdue her!! What ensued was horrific as they put a rope around her neck and tried to force her to submit. She went beserk and started thrashing around so much that she was injuring herself at every turn and in danger of being strangled – the more Helena demanded that these people let her go, the more they lost their tempers at the poor animal and insisted that it would listen. They then suggested that we just ‘ shoot the !$%^&^%$ thing!’ A very unpleasant argument ensued but Helena did not give up until they let her go!

We were then all subjected to the most belligerent, abusive behaviour from these ‘rambo type’ characters who stood by and watched us dart her again and then pick her up and carry her to the trailer. Far be it from them to lift a finger to help!!!!!!

Anyway, once we had her loaded it was off to her new home, a place called Rain Farm inland of Ballito. What a difference when we arrived there – it is a beautiful place with other wildlife and we unloaded her, administered the antidote and she was up and standing within minutes. A little while later she was grazing and checking out her new surroundings.

Report from the farm manager the next morning was that she had made her way over to the other side of the farm where she had joined up with the resident herd of zebra, and she was happily grazing and following them around! For a day off, this one was not too bad!!!

Judi Gounaris – December 2007

http://www.crowkzn.co.za/News/articles.asp?articleID=132