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CITY ZOO - EPISODE 7
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation Centre
TIMECODE PICTURE
SCRIPT
Title: Mokopane Biodiversity and
Conservation Centre
10:00:00:00 Cityscapes of
Pretoria
10:00:35:03 WS One-eared black
rhino at fence
10:01:07:18 WS Cable Car
10:01:23:14 Coming Up…
City Zoo is an oasis in the middle of Pretoria,
South Africa’s capital. It houses over 3000
animals from around the world. Each one doing
their part to help educate the daily visitors to
the zoo.
In return the zoo crew play their part by
breeding and rehabilitating the animals. Join us
as we meet some of the zoo’s residents and
follow the zoo crew’s efforts to keep the
animals healthy and happy.
Come take a walk on the wild side in Pretoria’s
City Zoo where lions and tigers live side-byside and where conservation is a way of life.
This time on City Zoo we explore the zoo’s
breeding facility, the Mokopane Biodiversity
and Conservation Centre.
We meet Johannes and see why he has such a
special relationship with the animals he cares
for.
As night falls, we explore the conservancy on a
game drive and Mike makes a tragic discovery,
a dead zebra foal.
We see how the centre manages disease. The
roan are treated for tick related illness and 5
buffalo are tested for Bovine Tuberculosis, after
a rhino on a neighbouring camp is diagnosed.
And finally the team get to the bottom of a
problem with one of the plant families, the
Naboom.
10:02:16:08 Title Sequence
10:02:50:20 Chimp on post Wide
10:03:15:23 Veterinary Hospital
Exterior
10:03:25:14 Aerial view from
Cable Car
10:03:38:12 Mokapane
The Pretoria National Zoo is home to over
10000 animals and is protecting and breeding
many endangered and threatened species.
The zoo is a well equipped with a veterinary
Hospital on the premises as well s a scientific
research facility and DNA bank.
Committed to conservation, City Zoo breeds
many rare species that may otherwise be
extinct in the wild.
And most of the breeding happens here, at the
CITY ZOO - EPISODE 7
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation Centre
landscape
10:03:44:23 Mokapane
landscape
10:03:59:20
10:04:08:07
10:04:20:01 Pan L-R form food to
Johannes chopping
10:04:37:04 Johannes Kubhayi,
Animal Attendant,
Mokopane
Biodiversity and
Conservation Centre
10:04:57:21 Johannes exits door
wide
10:05:07:05 Gibbons playing
wide
10:05:21:03 Gibbons swinging
wide
10:05:30:21 Johannes CU
10:05:50:10 Gibbons sitting in
tree and eating
10:06:00:16 Tourist
photographing
lemurs
10:06:11:06 Lemur on pole inside
enclosure
10:06:25:20 Johannes hand
feeding the lemur
through the fence
10:06:47:02 Johannes clean
feeding plinth
10:06:54:19 Johannes carrying
bowl Med
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation
Centre.
Mokopane is situated 250 kilometres North of
Pretoria in a sub-tropical sweet bushveld area.
At 1600 hectares it is the size of small game
reserve and its open to visitors.
The animals bred here are diverse and include
Roan, Black Rhino, Cheetahs and Gibbons.
Today we will meet the Mokopane team and
see what it takes to breed animals successfully.
Johannes plans, selects and prepares the food
for a number of different animals. He started
out as cleaner at the zoo, but through his
dedication he has worked his way up. Working
with animals has been life changing for
Johannes.
So, this is my dream. Before I was not think I
can work with the animal, but if I see the animal
I was just thinking if I can take that animals
today I can eat nicely. Now I can see animals
she is beautiful and animal is the best things
that you can look after.
Different animals are fed at different times and
on different days, so Johannes is always busy.
He’s off to feed the gibbons.
Gibbon island is fence free. The only thing that
stops the gibbons from escaping is small mote
of water , which Johannes has to cross. The
gibbons dislike water intensely.
These playful apes are Johannes’s favourites
and feeding them is highlight in his day.
Ja I just want to say Thanks God. But if she
was not god I can’t find this job to work with the
animals. I don’t know what to say, I just want to
say animal, that is my top favourite.
While the Gibbons enjoy their meal Johannes is
off to feed another playful animal.
Lemurs are endemic to the forests of
Madagascar and are highly endangered. The
lemurs here are fed on diet of fruit.
There’s always a scramble around the food
bowl at meal times and one of the lemurs is not
competing well.
But this lemur will not go hungry thanks to
Johannes, who hand feeds him to make sure
he gets his fair share.
These Macaws need to be fed a special diet,
but Johannes has ensured that they get
everything they need.
Johannes’s gentle nature puts the animals at
ease and he has no problems entering the
enclosures.
CITY ZOO - EPISODE 7
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation Centre
10:07:05:07 2 servals in their
enclosure
10:07:19:14
CU Lions at fence
10:07:31:06 Meat in strongroom
10:07:45:09 Water pipe
10:07:53:06 WS Black rhino at
fenceline
10:08:11:19 Wild dogs running
wide
10:08:24:07 Wild Dogs 3 shot
10:08:31:19 Wild dog CU
10:08:45:21 Cheetah in the tree
10:09:06:05 Cheetah eating
10:09:29:20 Cheetah walking out
of shot
10:10:00:01 Bright light
10:10:51:02
The servals are agile predators and are usually
a little jumpy, but in Johannes’s company they
are completely relaxed.
When it comes to dealing with the larger
carnivores, things are little different. Even
though the lions clearly recognise Johannes he
never enters their enclosure.
Instead lunch is served in a secure part of the
enclosure. And while the lions feast Johannes
is free to clean and maintain without the threat
of a lion attack.
Once mealtime is over and Johannes is safely
out of their enclosure the gate is opened.
This young black rhino is kept separately from
the others to protect him from the dominant
bull. He’s one of Johannes’s favourites as he
was born with only one ear.
Even though the wild dogs are highly
specialised hunters, Johannes is able to enter
their enclosure. They are highly intelligent and
tolerate his presence.
Many reserves will not take on Wild Dog packs
as they systematically take out prey
populations.
In their natural habitat wild dogs are persecuted
by farmers. The African Wild dog is critically
endangered and the captive populations are
the only hope for conservation.
Another highly endangered predator kept at
Mokopane is the cheetah. Captive cheetah
populations are s also essential to curb the
threat of extinction. Only 1500 wild roaming
cheetahs are left in South Africa and the
numbers continue to fall.
The Carnivores are one of the biggest
attractions for tourists who come to visit
Mokopane. The centre aims to offer visitors
education and recreation on all levels.
One of the best ways visitors can enjoy first
hand encounters with animals is on game
drives. At Mokopane there are herds of free
ranging animals including impala and zebra.
But some of the best sights are to be seen are
at night. Night drives are exciting experiences
where visitors see the animals in a natural and
free environment.
There are many nocturnal and diurnal animals
active at this time. The animals may be harder
to spot at night, but catching a glimpse of the
more secretive night dwellers is truly rewarding.
Porcupines are rarely spotted in the daylight
and there is o better time for spotting owls than
in the dark.
CITY ZOO - EPISODE 7
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation Centre
10:11:22:02
10:11:33:21 Zebra and dead foal
in the dark
10:12:01:14 Landscape
10:12:25:06 Mark and Johannes
pick up dead foal
10:12:48:11 CU hands in yellow
rubber gloves
10:13:21:03 Burchell’s Zebra
herd wide
10:13:36:03 Roan antelope 2
shot
10:13:51:07 Mark CU
This is also a chance for the centre’s
management team to check up on the game.
And on this night drive the team discover a
tragedy as Mark Howitt, the centre’s manager
recounts.
Mark: Last night out on a game drive, we came
across a group of Burchell’s zebra, where there
was a young zebra foal, lying on its side. We
initially thought it was sleeping but due to the
noise of the vehicle and the mother staying in
the vicinity the foal didn’t wake up or stand up.
So we then approached and found that the foal
was actually dead and had died earlier on in
the early hour of the evening.
Mark: We then returned the following morning
to collect the animals. In the process of
collecting the animals we have a look at the
ground area to see if there was any signs of
trouble, fighting any kind of signs that would
indicate a possible cause of death, we found
nothing we took a number of photographs as
well.
Mark: We then loaded the animal and took it to
our facility where we then did a field postmortem on it. Collecting samples of different
body tissues and then recording the size,
shape and appearance and any abnormalities
that we might see visually with the eye.
Mark: In the process of the post mortem we
found that he subsequently possible died of a
heart attack. There was a large amount of fluid
with inside the heart cavity. We also found
when we were removing the skin that the front
leg going up to the middle of the chest there
was a large abscess and we found that the
animal had actually possibly had some kind of
infection through the abscess that it had and
caused secondary problems with the lung,
which then resulted in it dying.
At Mokopane every life is valuable and the
team ensure that every death is investigated.
The centre’s main aim is to breed rare and
endangered species. Roan antelope are a rare
species in South Africa. But breeding animals is
never straightforward process as Mark
explains.
Mark: The game breeding centre came on
board here in 1991, where they introduced the
first roan onto the property. Since then we’ve
built up the numbers and to an extent where
we’ve managed to relocate some roan to our
other facility at Lichtenburg and then we’ve also
managed to swap out various roan antelope to
CITY ZOO - EPISODE 7
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation Centre
10:14:49:02 Roan in field wide
10:15:03:20 Roan walking wide
10:15:13:11 Fence line
10:15:50:06 Roan feeding
10:16:19:16 Oxpeckers sitting on
buffalos back
10:16:35:12
10:16:58:14
10:17:27:10
ensure the genetic integrity of our population as
we’ve been going. At the present moment
we’ve got seventeen roan on the property, from
a population of about five roan that we
originally received in the 1991 side. Now we’re
looking at swapping out animals to with private
landowners to improve the genetic integrity of
the population and to see how we can increase
the foundation for roan antelope throughout the
country.
The success of this breeding programme does
not only relay on the genetic integrity of the
stock. The team need to ensure that the
animals are disease free.
Recently the roan at Mokopane have been
affected by a disease called the Thileria, which
is spread by ticks.
So the management team have introduced a
tick off applicator. The animals walk across the
device and step on pressure plate. This then
sends a jet of the product onto the animal. The
product kills the ticks and in the end the roan
remain healthy.
Mark: The tick off applicator is ox pecker
friendly, it doesn’t contain organophosphates,
which results in the death of oxpeckers. So in
being conservation conscious and friendly to
other species, we then also make sure that we
use the correct products, in our management of
our wildlife population.
There’s been an outbreak of Bovine
Tubercolosis in another part of the camp. A
black rhino has been diagnosed and Adrian
and the zoo crew have been called in to test
the neighbouring group of buffalo.
Adrian: All five buffalo we’re to get blood
samples form them and also do inter-dermal TB
tests on them. Try and see if they are carriers
in infected with bovine TB. They’re all five have
been in one enclosure here, so we’re going to
immobilise all five one after the other.
This is a serious threat as TB is highly
infectious and if the animals test positive they
may have to be destroyed.
Adrian: And then get the blood samples and
then we inject the tuberculin under the skin,
measure the skin thickness and then shave the
area, inject tuberculin underneath the skin and
then we’ll see from the blood tests we’ll see if
there are any positives if anything looks
suspicious. Then possibly in three days time we
will need immobilize them again to measure the
thickness of the skin. Because if they are
CITY ZOO - EPISODE 7
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation Centre
10:18:49:24 CU Adrian writing on
tube sticker
10:18:57:02 Buffalo CU
10:19:09:14 Giraffe CU
10:19:26:16 Mark CU
10:20:10:00 Naboom within the
other vegetation
10:20:31:08 Rentia Malan,
Conservationist,
Tshwane University
of Technology
10:21:24:07
positive there will be difference in the thickness
of the skin, it will become thicker. And you
measure it with a calliper. So what we try and
determine is whether these buffalo are either
source of an infection that the rhino had, the
rhino that was right next door in the enclosure
next door, or whether they were also exposed
to the same infection from wherever the
infection came from or if they were exposed
secondarily to the rhino, so if they picked it up
from the rhino.
When Adrian has all he needs to samples are
sent away for testing
When the results are returned the news is
good. All five buffalo are disease free and none
will be put down.
Part of the managing the centre is taking a full
spectrum approach, this means understanding
how the plants and animals interact within the
eco-system. So when a species of plant started
to die off in the reserve Mark called in specialist
help.
Mark: here at Mokopane Biodiversity and
Conservation Centre, it is also part of the zoo
and instead of just focussing on the wildlife and
wild animals that occur is that we look at the
plant communities and one of the plant
communities that we are focussing on and that
one of the projects we have initiated recently is
the Euphorbia Ingensis standing here behind
me. The Naboom as it commonly known is very
well known to produces a white latex which is
very poisonous.
The euphorbia only occur on the Northern
Slopes and on the foothills of the mountain
range within the centre’s grounds. Over the
years the trees have been dying off and City
Zoo started looking for a Naboom expert to
helps get to the bottom of the problem. Rentia
Malan a leading botanist was called in.
Rentia: During 2006 we had done a strip
census of the euphorbia plant community. To
determine what the population, the health of the
population. And 26 percent of the whole
population that was in that strip was already
dead and 70 percent was more than 50 percent
affected by what seems like some kind of
disease that is causing the euphorbia’s to die.
So after the statistics of this became available.
Then it was clearly seen that there was a
problem with the euphorbia plant community.
Rentia: One of the things that I looked at was
the population age structure. That was divided
CITY ZOO - EPISODE 7
Mokopane Biodiversity and Conservation Centre
10:22:34:03
10:23:18:16
into adult plants, juvenile plants and then
seedlings. There was only one juvenile plant.
The rest of them were all adult plants no
seedling. Now there can be two possible
reason for that, one being baboons, because
we’ve noticed that in the dry season they eat
the seeds and the flowers in large quantities.
Then it is also known that black rhino eat
euphorbia and there was an article published
that research was done that the black rhino ate
considerable amount of euphorbia to such as
extent that they didn’t drink water in the winter
months, they ate euphorbia for their water
needs.
Mark: Out of this whole process we’ve
discovered that there’s five different funguses
that are infecting the euphorbia’s and is
associated with euphorbia it is natural process.
We’ve got no idea. We’ve also discovered a
new fungus as well that was also in this
identification process, which was previously
only known to occur within proteas population
gin the Western Cape. And we’ve also now
come close to identifying 26 different insect
species that are associated with and utilising
the euphorbia species. Previously the
euphorbia was considered a common species
with no threat to it, but now within few years
we’ve discovered it as a population that could
be under severe threat.
As we’ve discovered today, there’s more than
meets the eye at City Zoo.