Cleaning @ the wildlife centre

Dear readers.

As second years we have the responsibility to teach the 1st years about the 5 U/S that they need to know on captive animal care. One of those unit standards is cleaning, this is a subject used every day at the wlc because you need to clean as you go to keep a safe, sterilized environment for yourself and the animals around you.

Firstly we use Milton, a baby bottle sterilizer, for our bottles that we use to feed the baby animals with. What usually happens is the milk, be it fluid or powder, gets stuck on the plastic of the bottle on the inside. So we need to sterilize it because that milk residue can cause other animals to get sick from drinking from an unclean bottle as the germs and bacteria will contaminate the new milk. The bottles are re-used daily so they tend to crumble as well as the animals suck on them which means there is more hiding space for the bacteria to go sit in. These bottles need to be rinsed thoroughly after use and sunk in the Milton water which is re-made every 3-4 days.

Secondly we need to keep our area of responsibility clean to prevent contamination to the food of the animals. We need to spray the walls with SOS, a highly oxygenated solution, to sterilize the surfaces. We keep the preparation tables clean with diluted Savlon and twice a month we pack out the whole clinic and the preparation area so we can clean the walls and the floors completely before packing everything back into place. 

Spraying the walls with SOS, diluted with water sprayed with a backpack sprayer.

All the equipment and containers moved outside so we could clean completely.

Lisette cleaning the floor of the clinic after the equipment had been removed.

Christelle packing the medical cabinet so we know where to find what, also removing the out dated medication and remedies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both these methods are used inside the clinic, but outside we use things like salt to sanitize the enclosures. We clean out the bomas, removing the grass, then we loosen the ground so the salt can sink in to the surface and kill the bacteria left behind. We then wet the surface so it can dissolve into the soil and when the ground is dry we re-cover the soil surface with new grass so the animal has a soft surface to walk and sleep on.

The salt used to sanitize the soil of the bomas.

After the salt had been distributed over the soil surface and covered with enough water for it to dissolve into the soil.

Re-covering the soil with grass to soften the surface for the new animal.

 

 

 

 

 

Enclosures with electricity needs to be cleaned underneath the fence because the touch of any material for too long will set off the alarm so we need to make sure that the leaves and shrubs are removed from underneath the fence. The excess leaves and bushes can be either driven away from the wlc to the dump site or burnt if no animals will be disturbed in the process. In this photo you will see we had a controlled fire to remove the leaves and weeds that weren't allowed in the enclosure.

  The fridge needs to be kept clean and neat because if the food is not packed according to hygiene regulations it could cross contaminate and cause the animals to get sick. Milk, fruit, meat, chicken, cream and yoghurt need to be neatly packed and kept sort by sort also keeping the milk separate from the meat. The fridge needs to be cleaned regularly because the blood spills on the ground and on the shelves, the fruit messes on the shelving and the milk goes off. The freezer needs to be packed out and cleaned because you slip on the iced floor surface when retrieving a carcass.

Shelving needs to be washed and wiped off with diluted Savlon.

These are the covers in the freezer that get iced and very slippery so they need to be washed and placed on the floor to aid as a non-slip surface.

The off meat needs to be taken out and the heads and skins need to be used as soon as possible because they take up a lot of space. The skins and the heads are usually great for enrichment of carnivores as it gives them the chance to chew and play with it.

And lastly, the equipment used to keep the area clean must always be cleaned after use and put away in the correct places.