Monday, September 15, 2003
Where to start, I'm already a year and a half in this project, so I've got already about 70 adventures to write about. I guess I'll start with last week.
I had 19 Oryx in a re-habituation enclosure. They were brought from the Hai-Bar (a large fenced reserve in Yotveta, near Eilat) where they were born.
before release, it is necessary for the Oryx to get used to the new environment, so they are kept behind fence for a few month. Every time such a release is conducted, our special enclosure keeper is summoned, given water and some money, and left there in the desert for a few months to make sure nobody steals............ The fence.
our beloved enclosure keeper likes his job. He likes it less in summer but we leave him no choice. He loves it although they cut 25% from his salary.
So what we got there is one beloved enclosure keeper , 2 dogs (his dog Pako, and Pakos' dog Punch) in a tent, and 19 Oryx behind a fence. The Oryx are very happy inside the fence, believing it prevents the keeper and his dogs from eating them.
the time was up, and we went to release the oryx. Usually such event is full of VIPs that come to show that they are part of the project, shake hands and take pictures. The release was scheduled to Saturday morning, but in Thursday night (11pm) my boss & me decided it's better to be done in Friday morning. So almost nobody else could come. Releasing Oryx is easy. Just take off the fence and they are free. I guess the Oryx thought "why did it take them so long to bring the pliers ?"
Once the fence was down, the Oryx streamed out, running like hell without stopping. This behavior can be easily explained by the presence of Dr. Roni King, the veterinary. No animal like vets.
as they were running east, we were afraid they would cross the border to Jordan. Cooperating with the local ranger, who scared them by coming with his jeep from the east, they retreated west an relaxed, and started exploring their new environment. They looked like kids in Disneyland- lets go to here - no lets go there - examining all king of army leftovers and checking all the trees they can find.
at Saturday evening I made sure they didn't cross the border yet, and went home.
I had 19 Oryx in a re-habituation enclosure. They were brought from the Hai-Bar (a large fenced reserve in Yotveta, near Eilat) where they were born.
before release, it is necessary for the Oryx to get used to the new environment, so they are kept behind fence for a few month. Every time such a release is conducted, our special enclosure keeper is summoned, given water and some money, and left there in the desert for a few months to make sure nobody steals............ The fence.
our beloved enclosure keeper likes his job. He likes it less in summer but we leave him no choice. He loves it although they cut 25% from his salary.
So what we got there is one beloved enclosure keeper , 2 dogs (his dog Pako, and Pakos' dog Punch) in a tent, and 19 Oryx behind a fence. The Oryx are very happy inside the fence, believing it prevents the keeper and his dogs from eating them.
the time was up, and we went to release the oryx. Usually such event is full of VIPs that come to show that they are part of the project, shake hands and take pictures. The release was scheduled to Saturday morning, but in Thursday night (11pm) my boss & me decided it's better to be done in Friday morning. So almost nobody else could come. Releasing Oryx is easy. Just take off the fence and they are free. I guess the Oryx thought "why did it take them so long to bring the pliers ?"
Once the fence was down, the Oryx streamed out, running like hell without stopping. This behavior can be easily explained by the presence of Dr. Roni King, the veterinary. No animal like vets.
as they were running east, we were afraid they would cross the border to Jordan. Cooperating with the local ranger, who scared them by coming with his jeep from the east, they retreated west an relaxed, and started exploring their new environment. They looked like kids in Disneyland- lets go to here - no lets go there - examining all king of army leftovers and checking all the trees they can find.
at Saturday evening I made sure they didn't cross the border yet, and went home.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
HI,
My name is Assaf, and I got the best job I ever heard of.
I track Oryx in the desert. This immediately sends my to answer some FAQ:
Q: what is an Oryx ?
A: a picture worth a 1000 words. So here is a whole family of Arabian Oryx.
Q: Why do you track them ?
A: The Arabian Oryx was extinct from the wild in 1972. Since, there is an effort to re-introduce the Arabian Oryx to it's natural habitat in the Arabian peninsula ( in Oman and Saudi-Arabia)
and in Israel. (the links above contains a lot of info about the animal, so is you're really interested in it, surf there. ) anyway, I track them after they are released to make sure that they are fine, to check for birth and death rates, see what they are upto and find their home-range.
Q: how do you find them in the desert ?
A: Every week, armed with a 4X4 pickup truck ,antenna and water, I go to the region they usually wondering in and try to locate them. Before they are released, most of the Oryx were tagged with radio-collars, and I use the antenna to find them.
with out such equipment, it's almost impossible to find (thou intuition helps).
Q: where can I see such magnificent creatures ?
A: in the land of Oryxia, the is a remote kingdom named Assafistan, where the Oryx roam about freely and happily.
Q: Get real, where is it ?
A: since some people got in mind that it's look like a tasty animal, and some people have a weird joy from shooting any animal they see, and the rarer the better, I don't feel like posting the exact location, but I guess that if you follow the blog, you'll get hints. People that know me, know where it is. For the rest,
Assafistan is enough information.
Q: O.k, so once you found them, what do you do ?
A: I write down in my little blue book, where they are and how many of them.
Q: why ?
A: that's the data I need for my M.Sc. research.
Q: who pays you to go travel in the desert, pass through breath taking views,
maintain your own kingdom, watch animals in the wild and conduct your own research.
A: Benon pays.
Q: can I also get such a job ?
A: No. There is only one person who does it, and it's me. Sorry :).
My name is Assaf, and I got the best job I ever heard of.
I track Oryx in the desert. This immediately sends my to answer some FAQ:
Q: what is an Oryx ?
A: a picture worth a 1000 words. So here is a whole family of Arabian Oryx.
Q: Why do you track them ?
A: The Arabian Oryx was extinct from the wild in 1972. Since, there is an effort to re-introduce the Arabian Oryx to it's natural habitat in the Arabian peninsula ( in Oman and Saudi-Arabia)
and in Israel. (the links above contains a lot of info about the animal, so is you're really interested in it, surf there. ) anyway, I track them after they are released to make sure that they are fine, to check for birth and death rates, see what they are upto and find their home-range.
Q: how do you find them in the desert ?
A: Every week, armed with a 4X4 pickup truck ,antenna and water, I go to the region they usually wondering in and try to locate them. Before they are released, most of the Oryx were tagged with radio-collars, and I use the antenna to find them.
with out such equipment, it's almost impossible to find (thou intuition helps).
Q: where can I see such magnificent creatures ?
A: in the land of Oryxia, the is a remote kingdom named Assafistan, where the Oryx roam about freely and happily.
Q: Get real, where is it ?
A: since some people got in mind that it's look like a tasty animal, and some people have a weird joy from shooting any animal they see, and the rarer the better, I don't feel like posting the exact location, but I guess that if you follow the blog, you'll get hints. People that know me, know where it is. For the rest,
Assafistan is enough information.
Q: O.k, so once you found them, what do you do ?
A: I write down in my little blue book, where they are and how many of them.
Q: why ?
A: that's the data I need for my M.Sc. research.
Q: who pays you to go travel in the desert, pass through breath taking views,
maintain your own kingdom, watch animals in the wild and conduct your own research.
A: Benon pays.
Q: can I also get such a job ?
A: No. There is only one person who does it, and it's me. Sorry :).
