Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/153582
DRIVER REPORT S wallows swoop and dive steeply over the South African savannah. They share the air with a cool breeze that moves gently across the flat landscape. It is just after 6 a.m. and a few minutes from now the sun will rise. Suddenly, the birdsong is drowned out by the roar of a diesel engine. In a cloud of red dust, a sand-colored Volvo FM thunders toward a group of people with pickup trucks who have gathered at the gates to the Koppies Dam Nature Reserve, 150 kilometers (93 miles) southwest of Johannesburg. This is the first day of the season. Today, the game capture team is going to capture and move the African buffalo, which is one of the "Big Five", a term coined by hunters to describe the most difficult and dangerous animals to track and hunt in Africa. "We often work with buffaloes but it always involves a risk. The buffalo is a powerful animal and when it attacks, it does so with a vengeance. If it attacks, you are done for. It will kill you," says Petrus Motsoane, the team foreman and driver of the Volvo truck-tractor that is going to transport these aggressive animals. Capturing and transporting wild animals is an important operation in South Africa's many nature reserves. It is done first and foremost to maintain a balance between different animal species in the reserves but also to avoid inbreeding. The captures are carried out during the winter season between March and October when the weather is at its coolest. The team captures and transports several different species of wild animal – from zebras and rhinoceroses to buffalo and lions. The nature reserves in Free State Province in South Africa have been Petrus Motsoane's workplace for more than 20 years. With surgical precision, he maneuvers the 24-ton, 22-meter (72-foot) long truck across the savannah to the herd of animals that are going to be moved. The work imposes rigorous demands on vehicle and driver alike. "Your body gets tired from driving across the savannah. It feels as though your ribs are breaking! But I have been driving this truck for 10 years and I have never had any problems. It's strong and resilient enough to do everything that's needed," says Petrus. The game capture team in Free State is made up of 25 people, plus a veterinary surgeon and a helicopter pilot. The helicopter looks for and chases the buffalo into the open so that the veterinary surgeon can shoot it from the air with a tranquilizer dart. Once the buffalo has been stunned, the team on the ground drive their pickup trucks and hoist the animal, which weighs more than a ton, onto the back of the pickup. The buffalo is then transported to Petrus' Volvo truck where a crane truck lifts the sleeping animal onto the trailer; then, a reversal drug is administered to wake the animal. Kees Lawrence heads the game capture team. Petrus Motsoane has been working as a driver and foreman for the team for 20 years. 12 DRIVER 'S DIGEST #2/2013 VTM_2_13_US_en.indb 10 DDQ213PG010-19_30-31_Common Pages.indd 12 2013-08-13 11:04 8/13/13 8:53 AM VTM_2_13