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ZCTF game relocation - zebra capture
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF)
March 03, 2004

Following the report we sent out last week about our attempts to relocate the animals on a property outside Harare to a safer area, last Thursday, we hired Game Management Africa to assist us with the relocation. The plan was to relocate all the remaining animals (5 zebra, 7 impala and 4 blesbuck) in a single operation to try and keep the costs down but unfortunately, we only managed to capture the 5 zebra on Thursday.

Game Management Africa were extremely professional and rounded the 5 zebra up very quickly using a helicopter. The animals were driven into a funnel - shaped boma which tapered off into a narrow passageway leading into the truck. Once they were securely in the passageway, the zebra with a snare around its leg was darted with a tranquilizer and the snare was removed by a veterinary surgeon. The snare left a gaping wound which was cleaned and an antibiotic was administered. We would like to thank Meryl Harrison of the ZNSPCA who assisted with this and was present throughout the game capture to ensure that the animals were treated as gently as possible.

The zebra were then transported by truck to their new home where they have settled down nicely.

The following day, we went in again to try and capture the remaining animals. As the impala and blesbuck are smaller than the zebra, Game Management Africa opted to use nets instead of a boma. Using the helicopter again, they rounded up the impala but the blesbuck eluded them. The impala ran into the nets and the game capture crew caught them, taped up their horns to prevent them from killing each other during transportation, and loaded them into the truck. They have also settled down in their new home.

We then went back the same day to try and get the blesbuck. The helicopter managed to drive them towards the nets and we thought we had them but at the last minute, they very gracefully leapt straight over the top of the nets.

We can't leave the blesbuck there because the poachers will kill them as they have already killed most of the animals that were there before. We intend to go in again in a couple of days and use the same method we used for the zebra.

We would like to thank all those people who have so kindly assisted us with funds to do this operation. We have paid a deposit of USD 1 000 so far but we won't know the final cost until the blesbuck have been captured and we are worried that our funds won't cover it. In addition to this, we have also been asked to relocate 150 zebra to a safe area and we can't even think about that until we raise more funds. If anybody can assist us with funds, please reply to this email and we will supply more details. We would be extremely grateful.

We have attached photos of the relocation but if anyone would like to see film footage of it, it will be screened on CNN possibly next week. Once we know exactly when, we will let you know.

Visit the ZCTF fact sheet

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