Darting and moving Impala.

We had another fantastic opportunity the following day to help dart and relocate some Impala. It all sounded simple enough but it was far from simple, getting a dart into an animal is the easy part. You then have to follow the darted animal and once it is down it has to be moved very carefully and quickly, then once it is safe it can be given an antidote to the sedative and allowed to recover in the transport crate, before being released in it's new location. This is all very time consuming and stressful for both the animal and the people involved and must be done as quickly as possible so as not to over stress the animal. We darted from both a helicopter and ground transport and found that from the ground it was far easier to dart Impala, and the helicopter was much better for locating downed animals.  The most important part of the process is to quickly locate the sedated animal and to then keep it upright, this prevents it's stomach contents entering the lungs as its muscles are relaxed while it is sedated. All the animals recovered and were successfully relocated without injury, no small achievement considering how fragile a sedated Impala is.
The following photographs of the days events tell the story pretty well and we were fortunate to have been invited to take part.

Briefing before darting begins

Preparing the Helicopter.

Darting the first impala.

Searching for the darted animal.

Once located the animals eyes are covered and it is given antibiotics. 

It is then put in a carry sling and prepared to be moved.

The animal is then administered an antidote to the sedative and placed in a transport crate.

An aerial view of the Impala's new home.