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– Capture, Care & Management of Wildlife Course

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Specialised Temporary Facilities

Module 13 - Component 2


Introduction

Bomas for quarantine or auction purposes should be constructed in a similar manner

to the temporary release bomas. However, they are generally smaller and extra

provision is made for sorting animals and bleeding them for disease-testing purposes.

The bomas may be of a temporary structure without permanent water. It would be

dangerous to skimp on their construction, though, as the danger of escape from these

bomas is possibly greater than from the release boma, as the animals are subjected

to more pressure. Apart from the provisions already listed under general boma

construction, corridor crushes have to be incorporated to allow for bleeding the

animals at least twice during the period of quarantine, and for their eventual loading

for translocation. Animals are likely to be kept under quarantine conditions for longer

periods than they are held in temporary release bomas, which requires larger inputs of

food and management. Animals held in quarantine incur great expenses that are later

reflected on the final sale price. Ideally, therefore, the herd intended for long-term

confinement should be separated out prior to the quarantine period, so as to remove

aged animals and others that have less sale value. Circumstances requiring long-term

pen arrangements would obviously favour the capture of weaners, sub-adults close

to breeding age, or prime bulls destined for established game farms requiring new

blood lines.




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Multiple all-weather pens are required to facilitate multipurpose management of

animals for an indefinite period.




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Situations include the following:

Temporary accommodation of animals for:

✓ Auctions

✓ Direct sale

✓ Quarantine, both import and export

✓ Observation and medical treatment

✓ Sale of individual bulls for breeding or hunting

✓ Taming

✓ Breeding

Sorting-out facilities to separate or add individuals

Facilities to bleed animals for blood testing

Additional bomas to vacate occupied bomas for the purpose of cleaning

All-round viewing of penned animals without interfering with boma management

Variety of pen sizes to enable large herds to be split and rematched for better

resale options

Controlled unloading and loading of animals into transport of any size and

description

Easy daily management using minimal staff

Provision of sufficient lighting for after-dark management when necessary

Setting up a small veterinary office




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Description of individual pens

Each of the larger pens comprises a back wall straddled by a roofed area covering

two pens large enough to accommodate all the animals in the pen. Each of the pens

is covered with grass bedding during occupancy. Concrete food and water troughs

are dug in so that the tops are 100 mm above the ground. They are set against the

side and accessed by staff via a port from the corridor. The number of troughs

depends on the size of the pen – two of each for the larger pens and one in the smaller

pens. The pens are constructed to a height of 3 m for the general pens, using 100 mm

treated gum poles. They are set one against the other on top of channel iron to

provide for drainage beneath and to prevent the poles from rotting. The insides of the

poles are varnished to head height to protect the animals from the tar.




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Inside each of the larger bomas, a training wall is built in the same configuration as the

main wall. The wall commences at an angle, starting opposite the inside upright of the

pen gate at a distance equal to the gate width. The pen gate opens and locks against

it, forming a funnel from the pen into the corridor. In the corridor the adjacent gate in

the four-way gate system is closed so that the animals proceed down the corridor in

the required direction. As the animals enter the corridor, the pen gate is closed to trap

them in the corridor. The training wall extends from the gate position to 2 m from the

opposite wall. When the pen gate is closed, the animals can move around it and are

not trapped. With the wall set as a funnel, the animals run around it in the normal way,

only to find themselves in the corridor. The training wall doubles as a wall for them to

hide behind when staff enter with feed.




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Description of gate systems

The pen gate is hinged from both sides. It is able to open from either side – either into

the pen to move animals in or out of the pen. Being wider than the passage, it locks

against the passage to accommodate animals coming from either side.




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The four-way gate systems in the corridors are so engineered that the two gates used

can fit in any one of the four positions, depending on whether the animals are to cross

over or turn either left or right. The gates are hung on lugs with pins dropped in to

secure them, acting both as hinges and as locks swinging from either direction. During

loading or unloading, prior to moving the animals, all the intermediate and pen gates

are set to provide the only passage between the ramp and the pen, supervised from

the walkway. After the transfer of game, the gates are set in routine management

mode, leaving the cross-corridors open to feed and tend to the animals. These

management corridors are further guarded with a slide gate at the end to close off

the facility and to close behind the animals when they are loaded or unloaded

through the portable ramp.




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Management facilities

Redarting the animals for bleeding purposes is extremely costly and unnecessary, as

the task is easily done using a physical restraint system. An internal raceway is built into

the system between the offloading ramp and the pens, and the animals can be

coaxed through it to establish a routine as soon as they are sufficiently tame. A swing

gate within the system allows them to pass through back into the system or, if set in the

opposite position, channels them through one of the restraining systems where they

are individually restrained.

Immediately before the restraining device, one of the raceway walls is modified as a

movable hinged wall some 10 m in length. This can be swung open to accommodate

a few animals at a time and can then be closed by returning the wall back in stages

to force the animals through. All the internal walls are solid to prevent the animals from

being injured. Specialised equipment is necessary for quickly processing animals under

minimal stress conditions.

Reasons for needing to process animals include:

Tranquillisation

Sorting

Bleeding

Treatment

Pen cleaning

Management familiarisation, such as preparation for loading

Upon unloading, animals may be funnelled through a multi-gated system, which does

not stress the animals while sorting them into their required groups, should this be

required. Game Management Africa has designed a specialised swing gate system

that can be attached onto standard capture crush facilities to funnel animals into

separate pens or to release them back into the wild. Once the animals are sorted,

they can either be funnelled back into the system or onto a ramp for loading. The

method provides for the animals to be manipulated into one of the four pens or back

through the system, should further sorting be required. To remove individual animals, it

is also possible to use gates in the corridor system rather than to funnel all the animals

through the sorting system.




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Crushing facilities

Different systems are available for handling the different-sized animals, depending on

individual requirements. Systems for small, larger and large animals are discussed

below. Simple “Y” arrangements to restrain animals the size of impala are 150 mm wide

at the base, up to a height of 700 mm. They then open out to 800 mm at the top, 1250

mm above the ground. Three units are placed end to end into which the impala jump

and are caught fast in the “V”, their hooves above the ground. As the animals are

caught, assistants on either side pull them forward until several are assembled one

behind another. Here they are processed before being pulled through onto solid

ground and returned to the pen. A roof is placed over the first section to encourage

the animals to jump forward rather than up.

For larger animals, two systems have been devised, one to capture individual animals

for specific treatment, and the other a slightly longer unit whereby several animals can

be restrained at the same time to bleed for quarantine purposes. Both systems are

arranged end to end so that either may be used in the same passage. The larger unit,

some 5 m in length, is formed from a parallel set of walls solidly built from steel. One

side is raised to 2 m in height and the other side to 1 m. A canvas curtain hanging

from the top into the crush forms the top section. Each end is blocked with a solid slide

door to allow the animals to enter and leave through the system.




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To operate the system, four or five animals are let in and the door behind them closed.

Staff on the inside immediately lift the canvas sufficiently to grab an animal close to

them and pull it against the edge. While others help, competent veterinarians quickly

bleed the animals from the jugular vein. The animals are then released, the curtain

dropped, and the opposite slide door opened to let them through. The individual

system operates in much the same way; however, it is smaller and has a hinged side

folding in and squeezing the animal. The head is restrained through a perpendicular

gap and a small entrance gate is opened to allow a veterinarian in on the opposite

side to attend to the animal.

The third system is for large animals the size of buffalo and eland and is basically an

enlarged form of the “Y” design for impala. It has substantially built “V”- shaped sides

and a false floor on which the animal is trapped between two slide doors. As the floor

is dropped, the animal falls through and is held in the “V”. Once the animal has been

treated, one side folds open and the animal drops to the ground. It passes on into the

crush, back to the pen. 1 Small side gates are placed in the corridor sides to allow staff

access to position themselves on either side of the restraining units.




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Because of their long necks, giraffes require a separate design of restraining crush. To

prevent damage to the neck, there is a specially designed giraffe restraint, based on

a design used in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, for administering veterinary procedures

to adult giraffes. To restrain young giraffes, the design was modified with a hinged front

end allowing them to move forward after restraining, as they dislike reversing. The

system permits the bleeding of several animals, one after the other. General veterinary

procedures, such as hoof trimming as in a zoo situation, are not required and therefore

the number of inspection hatches in the original design was reduced, while still

allowing for bleeding from the jugular.




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Basically, the restraining crush is a simple, steel-plated upright crush into which the

animal is coaxed and boxed, using poles thrust in behind on an adjustable slot to keep

the animal pressed fully forward against the front. The front portion is hinged to allow

the animal to pass through once tests are complete. The side near the top is

constructed with a deep “V” to accommodate the throat and neck of the giraffe. A

large conveyor strap 300 mm in width can be placed over the giraffe’s withers and

secured to the opposite side to prevent the animal from jumping up. The inspection

plates on either side of the chest area are removed and a similar strap is passed

beneath the animal, under its chest up the other side and out onto a turntable

arrangement that is tightened to provide full support beneath, against the strap over

the withers.

Although provision was made in the experimental design to secure the animal from

above and below, it is not considered necessary for young animals. The giraffe’s head

is arrested and haltered and the eyes blindfolded. The animal is held in this position to

permit blood to be taken from the jugular vein after slight sedation with Azaperone.

Subsequently, the system has proved unnecessary as bleeding is facilitated quickly by

crushing the animal against the far wall of the corridor or against a gate of the

standard crush system, using a board the same width as the corridor. The board is

mounted in front of a chase vehicle and the animal’s head held while standing on the

bonnet, with little struggle from the animal.




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Multiple pens of differing sizes

In the Game Management Africa complex, up to sixty pens are provided. They vary in

size from individual pen systems, up to large communal pens 30 × 30 m in size to cater

for all wildlife species, including elephant calves and giraffes. The pens provide for

different herd sizes, ranging from individuals, pairs and small groups to larger groups,

even a complete natural herd. This is necessary for auction purposes, as animals

generally sell well in smaller groups than larger ones. Where a herd is split, they are sold

with the knowledge that the split groups belong to one another. Bulls are sold for better

prices when sold alone, particularly when they have trophy value, depending on their

horn length.

Smaller pens also allow one to build up viable herds from small captures to provide

either for capture safaris (discussed previously) or for the removal of individual males

or a few select females from established herds in small game parks (to improve gene

diversity, for example). Pens are changed once a week for cleaning purposes and for

resting occupied pens. In this way, the animals become accustomed to moving in the

corridors, so that when management actions are necessary or the animals eventually

are loaded, the operation can be carried out with fewer staff and with minimal stress

on the animals.




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Public viewing of the animals

As the animals need to be viewed in their respective pens prior to an auction, a

separate system of walkways is established over the corridors, looking directly down

on the pens. These walkways are accessed from stairs at several points around the

boma and are arranged so that all the animals in the system may be viewed in as

short a space of time as possible. In addition, it allows all the animals to be physically

checked at least twice a day to review management policy.

All the pens are visibly numbered against the back wall for record and auction

purposes so that problems can be quickly located and remedied. Animals are less

stressed from people staring from the top than from the side, and they quickly ignore

any threat from there. From the top, all the animals in the boma can be viewed either

for sale purposes or to locate possible injuries easier, as the animals are unable to hide

behind one another. The animals are also more easily supervised when transferred

from pen to pen or when loaded, as they can be followed from the top through the

various gate systems, viewed through the open slatted walkway. Moreover, the system

prevents the possibility of visitors accidentally leaving a gate open or being trapped

in a corridor with the captured animals. It also separates the visitors from staff who

routinely feed and water the animals below.




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Simplified multiple loading and unloading options

Generally, animals received in the boma do not all arrive together, even for an

auction, arriving rather as they are caught over several days. By contrast, animals

departing from an auction all need to be loaded the same day, requiring the use of

several ramps at the same time. Operators are normally contracted to undertake the

transport from the pens. If sufficient trucks to transport the animals all at once are not

available, other units of different sizes and bed height need to be hired.

Adjustable ramp heads are required to cope with the variation in sizes. As a rule of

thumb, animals dislike moving from a wide situation into a narrow one, both into or out

a truck. To lessen this problem, two ramps are built into the system: a wide ramp of 2

m for unloading, and a narrow one of 1 m for loading. An additional portable loading

ramp is constructed, which can be moved about to fit on any one of the cross-

corridors. The portable ramp is beneficial in that animals can be loaded nearer to the

individual pens, straight down the passage adjacent to the pen they occupy. The

portable ramp is fully adjustable and has its own passage door and ramp head gate

system.




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Easy daily management

The complex is designed so that animals can be transferred easily by two people from

one pen to another, to vacate pens on a weekly rotational basis for cleaning

purposes. The cross-corridors all open on one side near the food storage shed. Food is

carted in here and dispensed on either side of the cross-corridors into the individual

troughs, through the ports cut specially for this purpose. At the entrance to each of

the corridors, a tap is placed from which a length of hosepipe can be drawn down

the corridor to fill the troughs on either side. It is important both for good management

and the well-being of the animals that a strict routine be adhered to. The animals

quickly respond to routine, which reduces their stress. Efficient management of the

pens is required, and daily management activities must take place only in the morning

and late afternoon, leaving the animals to rest quietly during the heat of the day.




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Water and food troughs

Concrete troughs are manufactured using a steel mould with an inside and an outside

steel box fitted into one another. Reinforced concrete is poured in between, using a

1:2:4 mix of cement, stone and sand. Steel mesh and lengths of reinforcing steel offcuts

are placed within the mix to provide strength. When the trough is removed from the

mould, the concrete is left to set for 24 hours and then submerged in water to cure.

Two sizes are manufactured: 950 mm long × 560 mm wide × 380 mm deep for the

larger troughs, and 490 mm long × 410 mm wide × 320 mm deep for the smaller

troughs. These sloping front troughs are buried down to 100 mm above the ground

near the corridor fence. From here they may be replenished from the corridor through

a flap in the fence.




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Additional facilities

Provision of lighting facilities

Powerful tower lights should be placed around the complex in order to deal with

possible disturbances among the animals soon after their arrival before they settle

down. The lights may also become necessary from time to time to meet loading

deadlines and to effect early departures, for example.

Veterinary office

A small veterinary office should be set up with sterile conditions for sample collections,

post-mortems and security for the storage of dangerous drugs.

Registered quarantine station

The complex must be fully registered as a quarantine station complying with all

international quarantine conditions. This includes a perimeter fence to standard,

footbaths, storage facilities for food for the entire quarantine period, and facilities for

carcass disposal.

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