Logbook entry 09.06.2012

CAPTIVE ANIMAL MANAGEMENT LEVEL 4

Subject: Logbook

Team members: 1^st years, 2^nd years, Lauren and Vaatjie.

This morning I conducted the feeding tour with Heinrich and it went very well. We explained to them beforehand what to do and what not to do so they knew how to help us make the tour an unforgettable experience.

This morning I fed trigger on my very own for the first time and it went great. I still have a bit of worry for that one day that he might try and challenge me but I’ll handle it when it happens, for now whenever Lauren and Karen aren’t there I can still get the job done.

We did spot checks and we locked up code and lex in the feeding cages to give their enclosure a good clean, picking up the bones and cleaning up all the droppings. We also tried to clean and fill their dam but the drainage pipe was placed at a very useless place as it is higher than the surface of the dam so all the water can not drain. We cleaned it as best we could and refilled it.

We fetched the milk, dumped the waste and prepared the feeding for lunchtime which at this stage is only milk. We cleaned out the outside clinic and checked the conveyer belts to see if they need to be washed or not. I conducted a lion walk and interaction today and we cleaned out triggers enclosure as well so the guests don’t look straight into his droppings on the roof of his sleeping area.

The pigs we received had to be removed due to the fact that they were rotting and we could not use the meat anymore. We had a couple of people help us load the pigs onto the bakkie and they took it to the vulture restaurant. We cleaned out the fridge afterwards and threw salt once again to sterilize the soil.

This evening I am on night shift and we have a new animal that I need to feed at 8pm and 12 if he is not fast asleep. It is a loerie baby and Lauren created her own mixture to feed him as pronutro does not have enough protein. She mixed egg yolks, papaya and milk to create a drinkable paste that you feed him out of a syringe 5ml at a time. He drank very well and I had to sleep by Alley once again as she may not be alone.