Getaway May_2019

What’s up, Doc?

DrJuliaDabrowskihasbeenbasedatSkukuza
forthreeyears,runningKrugerParkDoctors
withhercolleague,DrNardusVisser.
‘Myjobis sovaried’shesays.‘I neverknow
whois goingtowalkthroughmysurgerydoor.
We’realsooncall24/7,andmostofmypatients
areSANParksstaff– I lovegettingtoknowthem
andtheirfamilies.Ofcourse,I alsotreatlotsof
tourists– someinternationalvisitorsarevery
anxiousaboutbeing“inthewildsofAfrica”.’
Shehasalsopeeredsympatheticallyat
numerousmosquitobites,reassuringguests
thatmalariais notinstantaneous,and
remembershavingtochaseaftera hallucinating
tourist,cladonlyinhisunderpants,around
SkukuzaRestCampat2am,whileclutching
herdoctor’sbag.
‘ItwasnothowI’dimaginedmyjobwould
be!’shesays.‘I wasnewlyarrivedandtheguest
wasexperiencinga diabetes-induceddelirium.
ThankfullyI managedtosubdueandtreathim
andhemadea fullrecovery.’
Juliais alsocalledoutatnighttodealwith
injuriessustainedduringpoachingincidents.
‘It’smydutytotreatpoachersaswellasour
SANParkrangers.’
SheloveslivingatSkukuzawithherhusband
andyoungchildren,whogotothecamp’s
nurseryschool.‘There’ssucha wonderful
communityoflike-mindedsoulshere,’shetold
me.Thefamilyliveinthestaffvillage,which
is unfenced,andtheyareusedtowakingup
inthenighttofindhipposontheirlawn
andhearingelephantsmunchingoutside
theirbedroomwindows.
013-735-5638,krugerdoctors.co.za

Tracking martial eagles

Wavinga 12-metre-longaluminiumpoleintheairwitha thunderstorm

approachingwasprobablynotthemostsensiblethingtodoinKruger.I was

spendingtwodayswithDrMeganMurgatroyd,helpinghersurveymartialeagle

nestsitesinthePhalaborwa/Letabaarea.MeganleadstheFitzPatrickInstitute

ofAfricanOrnithology’sMartialEagleResearchProject.

Tapedtothetopofthelongpolewasa GoProcameraandweweretrying

toangleit torecordanyeggshellfragments,foodorchickremainsinan

abandonednestatthetopofa leadwoodtree.In2011,a decreaseofupto

60 percentofthisiconicraptor,thelargestoftheAfricaneagles,wasidentified.

Some 66 nestswerelocatedinKrugeranda sampleofthesehasbeenmonitored

since2013.GPStrackershavebeenfittedto 10 adultsandnineimmatureeagles

torecordtheirmovements.

FouradultsrangedfarbeyondKruger’sborders,twowerekilledby

subsistencehuntersinMozambique,onewaselectrocutedonpowerlinesin

eSwatini,andtwo

diedofnaturalcauses

withinthepark.

Afurther 26 martial

eagleshavebeen

ringedtoprovide

moreinformation

onmovementand

survivalrates.

Whendispersing,

juvenilesareexpected

touselargerareasthan

adults,andare,perhaps,

morelikelytoencounter

threatsoutsideprotected

areas.Sofar,thestudy

hasshowna reasonably

goodsurvivalratefor

trackedjuvenileeagles.

Thissuggeststhat

thehighadultmortality

ratemayhavebeenby

chance,andfurtherlong-

termresearchis needed.

Meanwhile,Megan

continuestomonitor

thenestseachyear.

LEFTDrMegan

Murgatroydtryingto

examineanabandoned

martialeaglenest.

ABOVEDrJuliaDabrowski,ofKrugerPark
Doctors,inhersurgeryatSkukuza.

YOUCANHELPReportanysightingsofringedmartialeagles.Sendthe

date,time,locationanda [email protected].

Harriet Nimmo

86 MAY 2019

TRAVEL KRUGER