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Domnic Mijele, Michael Njoroge, Titus Kaitho Veterinary Services Department, Species Conservation and Management Division, Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, Kenya Abstract: A 10-year-old male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) at Samburu National Reserve in Northern Kenya, weighing approximately 1,600 kg, presented with an umbilical hernia in October 2013. Umbilical herniorrhaphy was carried out under field conditions. Anesthesia was induced and maintained using etorphine hydrochloride for 3 hours during the surgery. This case report details both the surgical and anesthetic procedure carried out to correct the hernia, and the eventual successful recovery of the elephant from anesthesia. However, the elephant died weeks after the surgery and a postmortem could not reveal the cause of death because predators had scavenged the carcass. The challenges of the surgical procedure and outcome including possible causes of death are highlighted in this report. Keywords: African elephant, general anesthesia, etorphine hydrochloride, local anesthesia Lignocaine + adrenaline, umbilical herniorrhaphy

Titus Kaitho,1 David Ndeereh,1 Bernard Ngoru21Veterinary, Capture and Captive Wildlife Management Department, Wildlife Conservation Division, Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, Kenya; 2Ecological Monitoring, Bio-Prospecting and Biodiversity Information Management Department, Biodiversity Research and Monitoring Division, Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, KenyaAbstract: An anthrax outbreak occurred at the Mwea National Reserve between May 2011 and July 2011. This outbreak affected endangered Rothschild’s giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis ssp. rothschildi). Eleven giraffe carcasses were found during the 3-month period. One lesser kudu (Ammelaphus imberbis), the only one of its species in the national reserve, also succumbed to the illness. An investigation was carried out, and the presence of anthrax was rapidly confirmed using bacteriological methods. To stop the occurrence of more deaths of this endangered species, a total of 20 giraffes were vaccinated against anthrax and black quarter. The giraffe carcasses that were found were completely burned; this was done to decontaminate the environment. For a period of 2 years postvaccination, no anthrax-related mortalities in Rothschild’s giraffes were reported at the Mwea National Reserve.Keywords: anthrax outbreak, burning of carcasses, Rothschild’s giraffes, vaccination