Vetnews | Januarie 2025 48 « BACK TO CONTENTS FIFTY YEARS IN VETERINARY PRACTICE (PART 2) The elephants arrive The Rhodesian war was not a happy time. The animals too suffered. Wangwe Game Reserve was land mined and the elephants would regularly step on these mines with very severe consequences. Ian Smith decided that the entire population should be eliminated. Marksmen were sent in but found they could not pull the triggers on the infants. A client was given 21 of these babies. Within days the first ones were showing diarrhoea and a very young one Mini, died rapidly. In a panic, I was phoned and soon I was the keeper of 20 baby elephants on my farm. We lost another one before managing to stabilise them. They rapidly tamed and were easily managed. With time they became very popular with the staff of the Valley and were treated to various feeds from the locals. On one occasion a neighbour’s house servant brought a huge dish of curry and was not amused when it was rejected. When asked she said “But they are from India and don’t all people from India eat curry? She had got it wrong they were African to the core. These little chaps grew rapidly and were a delight. My youngest daughter phoned my wife and asked her to call in at the school. The teacher expressed concern at Neulahs amazing tales when asked to tell stories of home. Elephants, a baby chimp, several vervet monkeys, a retarded chimp and a lama with a fractured leg. The teacher found it hard to believe and thought it was all fantasy. The class was asked to visit and it was like a visit to the hospital of a zoo. Mbeje All large animal practitioners come into contact with labourers’. There people are generally veld educated and can be extremely interesting. Mbeje was one of them. An arthritic old man who herded cattle from horseback and lay in the grass next to the crush pen when I was working on the cattle. He was not scared to express an opinion whether asked or not. Mbeje could accurately count cattle from horseback, no going through a gate or crush was necessary. One day when removing an afterbirth he said to me. “You, a doctor were supposed to be clever. When you are finished with that stinky thing no one will want to know you” A lively discussion followed and he told me of an African remedy that would do the trick. A few visits later he presented me with umgophe tea. It was made from a wild rhubarb that grew in the valleys. Dosing it to affected cattle worked wonders. I sent a sample off for analysis and the results showed the highest oestrogen-containing plant tested. That was not the end of Mbeje’s educating me. He was getting very frail and was probably in his late 70’s. He respectfully asked me to find him a horse that he could afford. Fortunately, a client had a polo pony that had a huge sarcoid over its left eye and despite surgery, it had got worse and he asked me to put the horse down. Mbeje was given the horse. A few years later the old African man was riding down the road when I was on my way to work. He was on a really beautiful mare. I stopped to chat with him and asked where he had got the horse. “Oh but you got it for me “ came a curt reply. There was no sign of the sarcoid. I asked how he had done that and his answer was umhlongwe – Euphorbia ingens latex. He had carefully applied that regularly and it had done its job. Collecting Semen from a Nile Crocodile I had accidentally got involved with a crocodile farm – something that was scientifically intriguing and complex. The crocodile farming industry was in its infancy and there were many questions and few answers. One of these was that in May there was a lot of courtship in the ponds and then they appeared to hibernate becoming active again in September and laying in October. What was going on in May? Was it mating and semen capitation, was it female stimulation? We did not know so it was decided to attempt semen collection. Henry, a 450 kg male of unknown age was tranquilized and a sheep ejaculation probe was inserted into his cloaca. Stimulation resulted in the erection of a huge penis and ejaculation followed. Semen was flagellated and very active. There are many more stories I can tell of the crocodile farms and the involvement of the Italian Mafia. The latter organization due to certain circumstances on their own farms stalled the entire industry. One says how could they do that but they controlled the Italian fashion industry. v Life plus 25 without parole Mike Lowry Mike Lowry has been in veterinary practice for "life plus 25" years. In this column, he shares his experiences and opinions. +25 Regulars I Life plus 25
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