WEB Vetnews May 2015

Congresses I Kongresse SAVA Wildlife Group Annual Congress The SAVA Wildlife Group held its annual congress and AGM at the Blades resort in Pretoria from 20-21 March. There were 109 delegates, 18 talks and 10 trade exhibitors. It was the most well-attended congress to date, possibly because the programme included something for everyone! T opics included genetics and colour variants (Dr Cindy Harper), new and past Mycobacterium spp (Drs Michelle Miller and Sven Parsons), brucellosis diagnostics (Dr

Jacoba Wessels), electrical immobilisation of crocodiles (Dr Silke Pfitzer), handling of antelope for surgery (Dr Gareth Zeiler) and minimum reversal dosages for M99 (Dr Jacques O’Dell). Immobilisation and its consequences were covered in the talks by Dr Leith Meyer on muscle tremors in rhinos, Dr Peter Buss on butorphanol in rhinos and elephants, Dr Roxanne Buck on propofol-ketamine-

for friendly chatter, sharing of experiences and exchange of information. These social events always form an important component of each congress! For more information on the AGM, please visit http://www.vets4wildlife.co.za/. We hope to see you all there next year in February. v SAVA WG committee All the delegates

medetomidine infusion in impala and Dr Agustina Fitte on capture and cooling consequences. Dr Peter Caldwell from the Endangered Wildlife Trust gave an eye-opening talk on cheetah mortalities during immobilisation and how to prevent them, while Dr Gavin Hudson-Lamb followed with interesting serum and urine parameters in cheetah. Fertility testing in wildlife bulls was the topic of an entertaining talk by Dr Morné de la Rey, while Dr Rick Last did an educational presentation on lion sarcoids and pansteatitis. Dr Jacques du Preez presented an interesting way to estimate weight of rhinos by measuring their foot circumference. To remind us of the dangers of working with drugs, Dr Kathryn Wright, an emergency medicine doctor, discussed the treatment of opiod and other toxicities in humans. There was a fantastic trade turnout with V-Tech, Elanco, Lomaen, Kyron, Sonorite, Anaesthetic Equipment Supplies, Energy X-Ray Trading Company, Midlands Veterinary Wholesalers, Champion Petfoods/ Packleader and the SAVA. Great mingling of delegates and trade representatives occurred during all the breaks. A special thanks Drs Marius Louw, Stuart McKernan (Chair of the Wildlife Group) and Chris van der Walt

to all the trade representatives and Vetlink for their hard work! During the spit- braai there was ample opportunity

Drs Frans Erasmus and Olaff Marais

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Mei/May 2015