SOUTH AFRICA

Nearly 100 caged baboons had the fright of their lives when the inundated Olifants river climbed under their cages at a remote reserve in northern South Africa recently. Rescue workers worked night and day to carry the baboons and some other animals like jackals, civets, warthogs and monkeys to the, centre for animal rehabilitation and education, located near the renowned Kruger National Park. Two veterinarians armed with dart guns aud sedatives, were flown to the rescue site to sedate the baboons. The animals were then moved to higher grounds one by one as vehicles could not reach the flooded area, and placed in temporary -cages. In one of the worst flooding incidents across northern South Africa in decades, the normally calm river rose after five days of heavy rainfall which claimed 13 lives and affected scores of people.