The Chronicle 2022

Nambiti Black Rhino tagging and dehorning procedure

CONSERVATION SOCIETY

Masters in Charge: Mr Mlibo Tyala, Mr Mark Blew Chairman: James Cleland

practical insight into the life of working on a Big Five reserve.

The year proceeded with visits to the KZN Crane Foundation. We had originally hoped for a follow-up rhino trip to Colenso to work with a recently wounded rhino from a poaching attempt going wrong; but for various reasons including the trip with Chris Pearson, we weren’t able to expose the boys to this type of opportunity this year. We were then fortunate to host the Vulture Group from Botswana which is an NGO rugby academy raising awareness and funds through sport, led by a well-known researcher Dr Glyn Maude. Dr Maude gave a talk to the society and interested members of the community where he shared his ongoing efforts to monitor and maintain vulture populations in Botswana where a lack of education, muthi , bush meat, poaching and poisoning are just some of the factors threatening these birds’ existence. We then invited current Michaelhouse dad Dr Brothers, who operates in the field of veterinary science in the wildlife sector, to address society members on the path to follow towards becoming a wildlife vet. The boys really enjoyed his insights, and we are pleased to have been able to give more access and guidance to our young conservation enthusiasts through these types of interactions. The year concluded with the boys bidding farewell to Mr Mark Blew who will be handing over to Mr Mlibo Tyala in 2023.

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The society enjoyed a successful year kicking off with the boys visiting the Hilton College Nature Reserve. The change of scenery and the levels of collaboration between boys with similar interests were features of the outing. Other activities during the course of the year included game counts in tandem with members of the Balgowan Conservancy in the Balgowan region, setting up camera traps and going through the footage every Wednesday afternoon. The latter is a project which the boys really enjoy, often encouraging me to make it open to all boys. A major event and highlight of the year had to be the visit to Nambiti Game Reserve where the boys were involved in Black Rhino tagging and dehorning. The excursion which was arranged and coordinated by Old Boy Chris Pearson was followed up with a significant fundraising event which the boys arranged at school in the form of a civvies day, raising R20 000. The excursion itself was also a great success with the boys learning in the field how to track a Big Five animal using a telemetry device. The adrenaline rush of being on foot in lion territory whilst tracking the rhino is hard to describe. Eventually, the rhino was located and darted, falling majestically not more than 700m from where lions had been chased off by the helicopter. Whilst on night and early morning drives our boys enjoyed their fair share of real-life, hands on

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