Bush Vet, by Tony Park and Clay Wilson

Bush Vet, by Tony Park and Clay Wilson. Random House Struik Umuzi. Cape Town, South Africa 2013. ISBN 9781415201787 / ISBN 978-1-4152-0178-7

South Africa born Dr. Clay Wilson sold his successful veterinary practice in Florida to work as a voluntary wildlife vet in the Southern African bush, in the small town of Kasane on the edge of Botswana’s Chobe National Park. His dream job turned into a nightmare. His tough stance on poaching, other crime, and human-animal conflict led to a personal disaster. Tony Park has co-written his biography.

Tony Park  Clay Wilson  

[...] On nine out of 10 calls, Mogau, who was head of research at Chobe National Park and the guy I reported to, didn't bother coming out with me, but on this occasion he said he would ride with me, in my vehicle. His excitement was infectious and I was pumped. I drove from my house on the plateau above Kasane to the T-junction up the street and turned right on to the main road to Ngoma. We passed through the barrier indicating where the national park began and I signed the book and exchanged smiles and handshakes with the rangers on duty. It was October and the air was hot and heavy, expectant with the promise of rain. The grass on the side of the road was long and yellow, almost brittle from the months without moisture. The mopane trees' butterfly-shaped leaves had turned red gold, but soon the whole park would be rejuvenated and dressed in a lush, green cloak. A fresh start. Although the road was wide and tarred smooth, the speed limit was 80 kilometres an hour and I stuck to it. I had treated too many wild animals that had been seriously injured on this main route through to the Namibian border crossing. I took a left, on to the dirt road heading south towards the famous Savuti plains. We were heading for a hunting camp, in a concession somewhere on the edge of Chobe. Soon after this incident the government started banning hunting and while some people applauded this, the fact was that if the ethical hunters left, there would be fewer eyes on the ground and fewer people to assist with anti-poaching in the areas adjacent to the national park. Whatever. I was back to doing all I'd ever wanted to do in life-saving animals. It was an hour and a half's drive on sandy roads to reach the hunting camp and on the way we saw elephants, of course, as Chobe National Park and its surrounds are home to about half of the remaining population of African elephants, and ostriches, which was not all that common. The hunting camp was set on a dry riverbed. Its guest accommodation consisted of a line of semi-permanent green canvas safari tents, each covered with a thatch roof supported by poles. The hunting season was over for the year due to the heat and the approaching rains, and the camp was manned by a skeleton staff of security people and cooks. When we got there we were met by a few guys toting rifles, and a policewoman who cradled a shotgun protectively across her chest. Mogau confirmed the report that a leopard had got into the kitchen and was trapped there. It had happened four days earlier and the camp staff hadn't eaten since then, as all their food was stored in the kitchen. They led me to the kitchen-cum-storeroom, which was a timber-framed structure with canvas walls. The top third of the walls was mosquito mesh and chicken wire, to allow air to circulate but to keep out curious critters such as hyenas and honey badgers. Leopards, I knew from personal experience, could get in and out of just about anything they wanted. It seemed this one had waited until it saw a door ajar and then snuck in. "The leopard is in there," Mogau said. "They say that someone shot and wounded it, and it wandered into the kitchen." [...]

This is an excerpt from the biography: Bush Vet, by Tony Park and Clay Wilson.

Title: Bush Vet
Authors: Tony Park; Clay Wilson
Publisher: Random House Struik
Imprint: Umuzi
Cape Town, South Africa 2013
ISBN 9781415201787 / ISBN 978-1-4152-0178-7
Softcover, 15 x 22 cm, 192 pages, many photographs