WEB Vetnews May 2015

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24 Mei/May 2015 vetnuus•news
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!Topics 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-
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
to all the trade
representatives
and Vetlink for their
hard work!
During the spit-
braai there was
ample opportunity
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 We hope to
see you all there next year in February. v
SAVA WG committee
All the delegates
Drs Frans Erasmus and Olaff Marais
Drs Marius Louw, Stuart McKernan (Chair of
the Wildlife Group) and Chris van der Walt