So today started with a 6 AM feeding of Valentino and Belle with Kaitlyn. Valentino is still guzzling his milk down, but last night Belle wasn't feeling good again and didn't drink at all. So we were so so happy this morning when she took down her entire bottle and her temperature was back to normal! We walked back to the houses and I went back to sleep for about an hour.
Our adventure today was to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center and Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center. It was about a two hour drive, but definitely worth it. At the first place, we were driven around to all the enclosures and even through some. The center first started with cheetahs, and cheetahs remain their main focus, but they have a number of endangered species at their center. Here are a few photos.
African Wild Dogs. They make the coolest noises and have a very interesting social structure.
Some of the juvenile cheetahs playing! All the adult cheetahs were in enclosures we could only see them from the outside, but the youngins we drove straight through theirs!
So they would come straight up to the car! Even our driver had to get out and pull one out from under the wheel.
Before we left we snagged a group shot! From left to right: Kaitlyn, Me, Kelleigh (interning with our vet, not an ACE student), Kirklin, and Shannon (the new ACE student!).
We hopped back in the van and headed to lunch at this really
quant restaurant. It was so yummy! I had a chicken mayo sandwich. AKA chicken
salad in the states, but it’s a little different. Then we drove down the road
to Moholoholo where we were given a very nice behind the scenes tour. We were
first shown the birds of prey, and I got to feed a vulture! It was so cool.
Then I even got to hold a honey badger! It was so sweet and
playful. They also let us meet their cheetah cubs! Look how cute they are!
We were then lucky to see their Bush Babies since they are nocturnal. It was nearing sunset so I hope we didn't disturb them too much. I seriously can't get over their cuteness.
This is Landela, not to be confused with Mandela, their black rhino! This was my first black rhino spotting... Valentino is a white rhino. White rhino's are bigger and their horns are thicker, while black rhino's are smaller and their horns come to a slender point. Also, black rhino's are much more temperamental and they also use their lips kind of like fingers. They have a pointed lip if you can see it in this picture. White rhino's have a flat lip, which is obvious in the pictures of Valentino.
Our final animal at Moholoholo was this beauty, Bullet. She is used as an "ambassador" for her species. Meaning, she goes to schools, conferences, even weddings apparently to "speak" on behalf of cheetah conservation. She is tame and I was able to pet her! I pet a cheetah! She was amazing. Sadly, lots of cheetahs are being snared or killed due to lack of habitat where it is ok for them to hunt. Cheetahs will find themselves on a farmers cattle farm and not realize they are not supposed to eat cattle. The farmers who invest a lot of money and time in their cattle, then usually shoot the cheetah and set snares for them. That's where places like Moholoholo come in. They take these animals and find a safer home for them. It was very interesting to talk to the head honcho of this program; he has been involved in rehabilitation and conservation for many many years.
By the end of our tours, we were all exhausted and so
excited to get home, but unfortunately there was an accident on the only road
we could take back. We were at a complete stand still for about an hour and a
half. It was pretty frustrating, and I tried to sleep in the van. Let’s just
say I have officially tried every possible van sleeping position, and none of
them were successful. Finally we made it home after a very long, but fun and
insightful day! Hopefully tomorrow will bring more work!
Love you all,
Llewy
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