Kipper:
I agree with you 100%. You brought up the point of
regretfully the cost
, and I suspect that
is the biggest factor with wildlife in Africa. The governments don't supply enough funds for those taking care of wildlife. for instance, there is one veterinarian supplied by KWS through funds from the Sheldrick Trust and a European company that are donated to Tsavo East and West, Chyulu Hills, Amboseli and Shimba Hills. Another vet takes care of the Masai Mara and Rift Valley. Those are huge areas to be responsible for and oft times when they are needed in one area they are far away in another area. They do marvelous work but there are just not enough of them. I've been with the vet on several occasions and watched them work and they are to be truly commended. I just wish there were more of them.
There usually isn't much danger to the animal to anesthetize. The vets are real pros and know the correct dosages of M99 to give each species. When I've watched them dart elephants the vets were always in a vehicle to do the darting and only when the animal goes down does everyone scramble out of the vehicle to get the animal correctly positioned and treat, and then after the antidote is given the vet doesn't leave until the animal is up and walking away.
I know of one elephant I first saw in 2001 with a severely fractured right back leg that had obviously healed incorrectly and was badly bent, but he managed to get around fine despite the injury and get his food and water. I saw him again three years later and he was still doing fine. Then another two years later he showed up right beside my tent (about 40 miles from where I had first seen him) and I was happy to see he was managing alright. In this case, though there was no treatment, the animal did well on its own.
However, there are cases of animals suffering greatly who can't possibly survive their severe injuries, who could easily be put out of their pain and suffering by wildlife organizations such as KWS and sometimes nothing is done. I find this very difficult to understand. Can the cost of a bullet be that great in Africa? Is the paper work entailed when one euthanizes an animal too much to do? In the case of the small elephant family involved in the hit and run accident and left dying beside the road, I would probably have wrestled the gun from the KWS ranger, euthanized the animal and then been arrested for taking the gun from the wildlife authority.
It is too bad there isn't some way that we could get wealthy veterinarians from the US and Europe to donate some of their funds to helping care for wildlife in other parts of the world where it is so badly needed.
It is so difficult seeing suffering, whether from humans or wildlife, but like you I think treat or euthanize.
