Kurgat Marindany
21 February 2002
The oryx calf which was befriended by a lioness at the Samburu National Reserve last week was yesterday flown to Nairobi.
The oryx, christened Valentine, arrived aboard a private aircraft that touched down at Wilson Airport in Nairobi at 11.45 am and immediately driven to the Animal Orphanage at the Nairobi National Park.
Accompanying Valentine all the way from Lewa Downs private animal sanctuary in Isiolo was its special veterinary doctor, D Adeela Sayyid of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
On arrival at the orphanage, Valentine was received by KWS Assistant Director (Education), Mr Samuel Ngethe, his deputy, Mr Charles Muthui and a host of other senior staff.
Speaking to reporters at the orphanage after introducing the eight-day old oryx to a three-month old orphaned cab named Charlie, Sayyid said the oryx is in a "super state".
Sayyid said she has prescribed lactogen for the oryx that will be fed to it at intervals of two hours each day for several months before being introduced to milk.
"I have a team of trained personnel to mount a 24-hour surveillance on the oryx and this will go on until I am satisfied that it can be let to the wild," said Sayyid. Ngethe said the decision to translocate the oryx from the Lewa Downs was reached after it became evident that the sanctuary has inferior facility was not capable catering for the oryx.
He further explained that KWS decided to cut the relationship between the oryx and the lioness to avoid a repeat of the incident that occurred after an old lion ate the first oryx adopted by a lioness. The director said the lioness will, however, remain in the plains.
He said a team of researchers are already in Samburu to embark on studies on the lioness.
Meanwhile, a new controversy has emerged between the KWS and Samburu County Council over the translocation of the oryx calf to Nairobi.
The move by KWS to transfer the calf to Nairobi's Animal Orphanage from the Lewa Downs game clinic in Isiolo was met with protests.
The Samburu National Reserve Senior Warden, Mr Simon Leirana, acting for the Samburu County Council, opposed the KWS' move to transfer the calf named Valentine to Nairobi.
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