Nsikazi: Day Four

Here is my blog from last Friday! What an insane day.

  So we started the day with a two hour drive to a “biopark” or zoo type resort. They had Siberian tigers, leopards, Bengal tigers, cheetahs, a cougar, and then white lions! We were there to perform vasectomies on two of the male lion cubs. Here’s a picture of their mom and sisters. 

Here are the boys! “Ice” and “Growl”. 

They were all in very large enclosures and the male cubs were already in a cage so the darting was much simpler than shooting at moving animals. Once the cubs were down, we had to carry them from the cage to the truck bed and a table. Wildlife vets keep it real simple. The Mississippi State students did most of the main work like taking blood and injecting antibiotics, but I had the awesome opportunity to cut out the dart on Ice and then I held Growl’s leg while Martine did the vasectomy! I had from row seats AND I HELD A LION’S LEG. Seriously one of the best experiences of my life. Here are some pictures from the actual surgery if you’re interested. Warning: Slightly graphic. 

After we were all done, we got a tour of the rest of the enclosures where I took a million and one pictures of the other cats. Here are a couple! 

Isn't this guy GORGEOUS?! 

We then headed to our next call out which the vets kept secret the whole day! It turned out to be a hippo! Sadly, this hippo had been badly wounded in a fight with a larger male. Here are some pictures. 

Tegan, one of the other ACE volunteers, snuck in there! Love this girl!

 It took three darts to get this big boy down, and then the Miss State students went to work again! We had prime seats above the enclosure.

After that we headed back to the farm and since it was the last night for the students, we went up to watch the sunset from the sundowners spot. Here are a few pictures of that. I really wish you could truly see how beautiful and breathtaking it was, but these will have to do!

Later that night we had a going away party with the Miss State students. It was a crazy night! So much fun.

Easily one of the best days of my life!

Love you all,

Llewy