Francois du Plessis

 What  was to be a routine relocation of a boisterous giraffe, turned out to be a 'wild waters' experience for local vet, Dr Brendan Tindall from the Robberg Veterinary Clinic and a team of helpers.

A farmer who owns a farm outside Port Elizabeth had contacted Dr Tindall and asked him to undertake the relocation.

Says Dr Tindall, “the farmer was having some problems with a boisterous giraffe on his farm and asked me to help relocate the giraffe bull to a nearby farm, also owned by him.  The giraffe bull had started bullying and injuring  the white rhino bull on the farm and he had even started picking on game drive vehicles.”

“Capturing a giraffe is quite a 'tall order'.  It's a massive challenge because of the sheer size of the animal and because giraffes are very sensitive to anaesthetics.”

 “All the necessary equipment in order to capture the giraffe was arranged and we started getting ready for the capture,” he said.

Generally when a giraffe is darted the anesthetics take a few minutes to kick in. Once the giraffe has collapsed and the head is down and under control it is woken up immediately to reduce the anaesthetic risks. A blindfold, ear muffs  and ropes are attached and the giraffe is allowed to stand up. It can then be guided onto the truck and transported to its new home.

 Catastrophe strikes

Once darted, the giraffe ran off into the into the valley, which was thought to be dry. Nothing could stop him.

 "We cut to the chase and pursued the 'loose canon' giraffe. When we arrived on the other side of the hill, there was this huge dam. The giraffe had run into the dam, and collapsed into the water.”

 We had to do something – fast!

 “A group of about ten of us ran in to the water to try and save him. We managed to get his head above water so that he wouldn't drown.”

“Challenge number one stared us in the face. Should we repeat the exercise  and carry through the relocation, or should we wait until another day? We decided to finish our job. We put some ropes over the giraffe, put a harness on his head and pulled him to the edge of the dam where we blindfolded him, prepared the ropes and woke him up.”

“It was quite a challenge because he was very wet and it would be easy for him to slip on the ramp into the trailer.”

 “Just when we thought things were under control, we had some more challenges – getting past fifteen bridges or so on route. The giraffe is about 5 meters tall and adding the truck's height, you can add another extra meter or two. It was quite challenging to get through some of the bridges.”

 Luckily for our friend the giraffe, all ended well when he was safely delivered to his new home. For the guys who helped in getting him home safe, well now, that's a different story