DNA Sampling with Biopsy Darts – 02nd Aug 2011

The team hard at work in the field preparing the biopsy dart

Last week I spent four happy days biopsy darting lions on VLNR with Galagos Wildlife Conservation as my helpers. I am a doctoral student under the supervision of Dr Paul Funston at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria and a big part of my project is looking at the genetics of isolated populations of lions on small reserves in South Africa, hence the biopsy darting to collect tissue samples from which the DNA can be extracted.

The lions on VLNR are part of a large population of lions in the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area and little is known about their genetic origins so not only will the info from these samples help with the genetic management of theVLNR’s lions, but it will also help to determine which, if any, of the large populations of lions these ones are most closely related to.

Biopsy darting is simple, in theory. Step 1. Find the lion. Step 2. Fire a biopsy dart at the lion using a traditional dart gun. Step 3. Retrieve the dart (unlike darts that are designed to deliver a drug, the biopsy dart is not barbed and so falls out almost immediately, with a small tissue sample inside the hollow needle). Step 4. Transfer the sample from the needle into a tube with a buffer solution. Repeat as necessary for each lion.

Step 1. Finding the lion – As anyone who has spent any time on VLNR will tell you, this step can be very difficult and this time was no exception. With 34 000 hectares of reserve to hide in, even radio-collared lions can be hard to find and the lions must have known I was coming as Thika (lioness) and her two 18 month old cubs were hiding in the extreme south-east corner of the reserve the entire time I was there. However, she didn’t completely elude us and eventually, after many hours of driving both on and off road by Dave and exceptional radio-tracking by Wendy, we managed to locate her, not once, not twice, but three times.

Step 2. Hitting the target – Again, sounds easy, and it is, if the target is a cardboard box with a target drawn on it. Not quite the same with a live, moving lion. Once again, perseverance paid off and there were only a few misses due to unexpected movements of the lions and one perfect hit that for some reason didn’t result in a sample.

Step 3. Retrieving the dart – Probably the hardest part, especially as Thika and her cubs seemed to have acquired a taste for the darts. They managed to chew up two of the darts (not the needles thank goodness as one of them had a sample from Thika in it) before we were able to retrieve them. Some careful manoeuvring of the vehicle and a close lookout by those not doing the retrieving were essential to keep us all safe.

Step 4. Transferring the sample – This part was easy, although my hands were shaking from the adrenaline of successfully firing the darts!

Overall, a successful trip to the bush. Thanks to Dave and everyone at Galagos for your help – I couldn’t have got the samples without you – I hope you all enjoyed the experience!

Susan Miller – PhD Student, Pretoria

A Month of rare sightings (04th July 2011)

A Young Leopard

June was month unlike any other I’ve experienced in the African bush.  It began at the beginning of the month when we stumbled across 2 male Cheetah early one morning.  Although they are naturally occuring in the area, seeing 1 or in this case 2 is very special.  But this was only the beginning of what was to be “one of those months”! 

A couple of weeks later, driving through the reserve in the heat of the day and out of no where, a very elusive animal just seemed to appear on the road meters in front of the car.  It was a big male leopard and he seemed almost as shocked to see us as we were to see him. A desperate effort to photograph an animal rarely seen ensued but to no avail as he slipped into a ditch and as if by magic, disappeared. At this point I thought it had been a pretty good month! However, it was to continue a few nights later…….

Again, driving back to the GWC bush camp, the sun was well set and night had decended upon us.  A shadow moved up ahead in the beam of the headlights.  Not knowing what it was we moved slowly forward, turned the corner in the road to be confronted by a brown hyaena!  An animal that stalks the bush only by night and very little is known about.  My excitment was not containable, it was my first ever sighting of this mysterious animal and as hyaena’s are known to be, this one was very curious. Not only did it not run away, it actually came towards us for a closer look.  Clearly identifiable for future ecounters by the lack of his left ear! 

I wonder what excitment July will bring us – the best thing about living here is you just never know what each day will bring.

Upcoming in July – GWC volunteers will be assisting a PHD student from the University of Pretoria to do Biopsy dartings on some the lions in the reserve. This involves tracking specific lions and using a dart to take a small sample of DNA from the lion   She is working on a very important project to create a genetic map for lions in South Africa.  Its going to be an exciting month ahead for all volunteers here.

Dave Pugh – GWC Project Director