Legacy Wildlife Services - VetX

Legacy Wildlife Services - VetX Wildlife capture, conservation, and adventure collide! 🌿🦒
VetX Legacy Wildlife takes you behind the scenes of real wildlife veterinary work in South Africa.

Join our team! Wildlife & Veterinary Training, Conservation & Volunteering

🦓 Why do we put blindfolds on zebras?It might look like a small detail, but it’s actually an important part of wildlife ...
08/06/2026

🦓 Why do we put blindfolds on zebras?

It might look like a small detail, but it’s actually an important part of wildlife immobilisation.

When a zebra is under anaesthesia, a blindfold helps reduce visual stimulation from people, vehicles and activity around the animal as well as protecting their cornea from damage.

This can help:

✔ Reduce stress and sensory stimulation
✔ Create a calmer environment during handling
✔ Minimise sudden reactions as the animal starts becoming aware of its surroundings again
✔ Improve safety for both the zebra and the team

In wildlife medicine, it’s often the small things that make the biggest difference.

A successful immobilisation isn’t just about the drugs used.

It’s about monitoring, positioning, oxygen supplementation, temperature management and paying attention to the details that help ensure a smooth recovery.

Every measurement, sample and observation contributes to better wildlife management decisions and healthier populations in the future.

13 Sable antelopes. Two days. One relocation.Most people see the final photo of a sable antelope running in its new home...
05/06/2026

13 Sable antelopes. Two days. One relocation.

Most people see the final photo of a sable antelope running in its new home.

What they don’t see is everything that happens beforehand.

Over two days, our VetX delegates assisted with the relocation of 13 sable antelope while gaining hands-on experience in wildlife veterinary medicine, anaesthesia monitoring, and conservation management.

One of the most important lessons?

Oxygen matters.

Even when an antelope appears stable under anaesthesia, oxygen levels can decline significantly during immobilisation. Throughout the procedure, delegates monitored heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and blood oxygen saturation using pulse oximetry.

Pulse oximetry demonstrated a rapid improvement in oxygenation following oxygen supplementation, highlighting the importance of active monitoring during wildlife immobilisation.

Each animal underwent:

🦌 Clinical assessment

🩸 Blood collection for health screening and laboratory analysis

💩 Dung collection for parasite evaluation

📏 Horn measurements and morphometric data collection

🦷 Age estimation using dentition and horn development

💉 Administration of treatments and preventative medications

📋 Recording of anaesthetic and health data

Every measurement, sample, and observation contributes to better wildlife management decisions and healthier populations in the future.

From darting to reversal, the average handling time was approximately 20 minutes, allowing each animal to be safely processed and released into its new environment.

Wildlife conservation isn’t only about moving animals.

It’s about collecting the data that helps us understand populations, monitoring anaesthesia to keep animals safe, and ensuring every relocation contributes to the long-term future of the species.

🌍🩺

What part of a wildlife relocation surprises you the most?

A few snapshots from our most recent VetX Wildlife Capture & Care course.Not just photos of wildlife.Photos of qualified...
04/06/2026

A few snapshots from our most recent VetX Wildlife Capture & Care course.

Not just photos of wildlife.

Photos of qualified and future veterinary professionals assisting with monitoring anaesthesia in the field, assessing patients under pressure, collecting diagnostic samples, working as a team, and gaining the confidence that only comes from hands-on experience.

From zebra immobilisation and antelope relocations to dart gun training, helicopter flights, long days in the field, and plenty of laughs along the way.

These are the moments that remind us why we do what we do.

Because conservation needs skilled people.
And skilled people are built through experience.

🌍 South Africa
🦓 Wildlife Veterinary Medicine
🚁 Wildlife Capture
🩺 Conservation in Action

02/06/2026

If your idea of a good time involves helicopters, dart guns, wildlife, conservation, road trips, a little bit of chaos and a lot of adventure…

Yeah, we’ll get along just fine. 🤝🦒🚁

16/05/2026

One minute you’re learning about wildlife capture medicine in class…
the next you’re in the middle of the Karoo with a springbuck on your lap because the vehicle is officially at maximum capacity on the back with delegates and Springbuck 😂

No personal space.
Just dust, adrenaline, organised chaos and the kind of memories you’ll probably talk about for the next 20 years.

This is wildlife work.
Unpredictable, messy, exhausting and somehow the most fun thing in the world.

And honestly… we wouldn’t want it any other way.

12/05/2026

Three weeks.
A group of strangers from all over the world.
And somehow by the end of it, it felt like one big dysfunctional wildlife family 🤪.

Early mornings half asleep with coffee in hand before heading out for capture operations.
Long dusty days in the field..

One day you’re helping with a wildlife translocation, the next you’re monitoring anaesthesia, treating sick animals, learning dart setups, or standing in complete silence because the landscapes around you don’t even feel real.

And somewhere in between all of that…
we laughed until we cried.
Danced around the fire late into the night.
Celebrated officially becoming a veterinarian 🥳🥂 (yes she was knighted with a gemsbok horn 🤣)
And created friendships we know will last far beyond these three weeks.

That’s one of the things we love most about VetX.

People come here to learn wildlife veterinary medicine and conservation in Africa - but they leave with memories, confidence, friendships, and experiences that are very hard to explain to people back home.

The kind of moments where you sit quietly on the drive back from a capture operation thinking,
“Wow… this is actually real life.” 🌍🦒

11/05/2026

Most people think helicopter darting is just leaning out the side of the helicopter and pulling the trigger.

Then they get up there and realise how much is actually happening at once.

The helicopter is moving.
The target is moving.
There is wine in your fact constantly.
Your angle changes every few seconds.
The pilot is talking to you.
The ground team is communicating below.
And you have a very small window to make the correct decision.

Before delegates even think about taking a shot, we work through dart setup, safety, shot placement, communication, helicopter approach, reading animal movement, judging distance, and how to stay calm when everything suddenly becomes fast paced.

And honestly… most people are surprised by how technical it is.

A shot can look “perfect” one second and disappear the next because the animal turns, the terrain changes, or the helicopter shifts position. Learning to adapt quickly is a huge part of wildlife capture work.

It’s also one of the moments where everything starts coming together for delegates. Suddenly the pharmacology, the theory lectures, the animal behaviour, the pressure, and the teamwork all make sense in real time.

There’s nothing quite like hearing the helicopter circle back around while trying to line up a moving target below you. Adrenaline mixed with pure concentration.

And then afterwards sitting around the fire replaying every second of the flight and what you learned from it.

This is the side of wildlife veterinary medicine and conservation work that people rarely get to experience from the inside. And for a lot of our delegates, it becomes one of the most unforgettable parts of the course.

Would you take the shot from the helicopter? 👀

This is what wildlife veterinary work actually looks like in the field.Not just the end result but everything that happe...
27/04/2026

This is what wildlife veterinary work actually looks like in the field.

Not just the end result but everything that happens in between.

A few things our students quickly realise:

• Immobilisation is only the beginning - monitoring, positioning, and handling are just as critical
• Teamwork matters more than individual skill in capture operations
• Terrain, stress, and time pressure change everything you planned
• Drug protocols are one thing, real-life application is another
• Small details (airway and temperature) make a big difference to the outcome

Out here, you’re constantly thinking:
Is the animal breathing well?
Is positioning correct?
Are we working efficiently as a team?
What needs to happen next?

It’s hands-on, it’s unpredictable, and it forces you to think differently as a veterinarian.

And that’s where the real learning happens.

This is what wildlife veterinary work actually looks like in the field.

Not just the end result —
but everything that happens in between.

A few things our students quickly realise:

• Immobilisation is only the beginning — monitoring, positioning, and handling are just as critical
• Teamwork matters more than individual skill in capture operations
• Terrain, stress, and time pressure change everything you planned
• Drug protocols are one thing — real-life application is another
• Small details (airway, temperature, pressure points) make a big difference to the outcome

Out here, you’re constantly thinking:
Is the animal breathing well?
Is positioning correct?
Are we working efficiently as a team?
What needs to happen next?

It’s hands-on, it’s unpredictable, and it forces you to think differently as a veterinarian.

And that’s where the real learning happens.

Save this if you’re interested in wildlife veterinary work - these are the things no textbook really prepares you for 💪🏽

Why Alpha-2 drugs act like brain brakes 💥Alpha-2 agonists do not switch animals off.
They reduce activity in the brain’s...
03/02/2026

Why Alpha-2 drugs act like brain brakes 💥

Alpha-2 agonists do not switch animals off.
They reduce activity in the brain’s arousal centre by decreasing norepinephrine release.

These receptors influence:
• Arousal
• Stress response
• Pain pathways
• Autonomic output

When these drugs bind, the nervous system shifts into a quieter state.
Animals become calmer and less reactive, but not necessarily unconscious.

➡️ That’s why Alpha-2’s improve handling without fully immobilising an animal.

⚡ What they produce

Alpha-2 drugs create four key physiologic effects:
😴 Sedation
Reduced alertness and behavioural reactivity.
🩹 Analgesia
Spinal modulation of pain signals, supportive but not surgical depth alone.
❤️ Bradycardia
Lower heart rate due to reduced sympathetic tone and increased vagal influence.
🫁 Hypoxaemia risk
Changes in pulmonary circulation and ventilation-perfusion matching can reduce oxygenation even when breathing appears stable.

🐃 Why we use Alpha-2’s in wildlife:

• Reduce the stress response
• Improve animal handling
• Provide analgesia
• They are reversible (atipamezole / yohimbine)
• Combines well with opioids and dissociatives

They make capture smoother and more controlled rather than deeper.

⚖️ The trade-off:

Alpha-2’s do not shut down survival centres like opioids.
They shift physiology into a slower, vasoconstricted state.

Potential consequences include:
• Bradycardia
• Reduced cardiac output
• Hypoxaemia
• Peripheral vasoconstriction
• Altered temperature regulation

Low heart rate alone does not always equal collapse - interpretation depends on the drug context.

🧪 Why we combine drug classes:

• Alpha-2s shape physiology.
• Opioids provide control.
• Dissociatives provide immobilisation and muscle effects.

Used together they:
✔ Lower required doses
✔ Reduce extreme side effects
✔ Improve muscle relaxation
✔ Smooth induction and recovery

🧠 Bottom line:

Opioids switch off central control.
Alpha-2s turn the system down.
Understanding that difference is what makes wildlife immobilisation safer.

📌 Save this for your wildlife veterinary studies.
Comment ‘alpha2’ if you want a drug class comparison cheat sheet.

🧠 WHY OPIOID IMMOBILISATION WORKS SO FASTOpioid immobilisation works rapidly because it acts at the level of survival ph...
30/01/2026

🧠 WHY OPIOID IMMOBILISATION WORKS SO FAST

Opioid immobilisation works rapidly because it acts at the level of survival physiology.

Etorphine (M99) and thiafentanil are Îź-opioid receptor agonists.
These receptors sit in brainstem centres that regulate:

• Pain
• Arousal
• Breathing

When these drugs bind, they don’t simply “sedate.”
They suppress central control systems that maintain consciousness and voluntary movement.

That’s why large, highly stressed wildlife can become recumbent within minutes.

⚡ WHY THE SPEED? TWO KEY PROPERTIES

1) Extreme potency
Microgram doses produce profound central effects.

2) High lipid solubility
They cross the blood–brain barrier rapidly → fast access to the brainstem.

🐃 WHY THEY WORK IN STRESSED ANIMALS

Even when adrenaline is high, opioids suppress arousal pathways at a deeper neurological level than behavioural sedatives.

-> This makes them uniquely effective in reactive, free-ranging wildlife.

⚖️ THE TRADE-OFF

The same receptors also regulate respiratory drive.

Opioid immobilisation can cause:

• Respiratory depression
• Hypoventilation
• Hypoxaemia
• Acidosis risk

Speed is the advantage.
Respiratory compromise is the cost.

🧪 WHY WE COMBINE DRUGS

Opioids are rarely used alone. We combine with:

• Tranquilisers
• Alpha-2 agonists
• Dissociatives

To:

✔ Lower opioid dose
✔ Reduce rigidity
✔ Balance physiology
✔ Smooth induction & recovery

🔁 WHY REVERSIBILITY MATTERS

Antagonists like naltrexone and diprenorphine displace opioids from receptors, restoring breathing and allowing safe recovery in free-ranging animals.

🧠 BOTTOM LINE

Opioids are powerful because they act on core survival physiology - not because they are “strong sedatives.”

Understanding that physiology is what makes capture medicine safe.

📌 Save this for your wildlife veterinary studies

Address

R328
Hartenbos
6695

Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 13:00

Telephone

+27 822931803

Website

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