Coastal topis are a very rare breed. Their range has shrunk to a narrow strip of coastal grasslands and floodplains in Kenya and northern Tanzania — and with habitat loss and fragmentation, their numbers have dwindled to a fragile few thousand.

Ulinzi Africa Foundation reported two snared coastal topis on Kipini Conservancy, on Kenya’s remote northern coast. These snares had likely been set by bushmeat poachers targeting the antelope.

We mobilised Sky Vets, our aerial veterinary unit in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service, to reach the patients. What ensued was a challenging, two-day operation that ultimately saw both topis successfully treated.

The first patient was fairly straightforward — aside from the complicating factors of flighty, alert animals that are difficult to dart and remote, swampy terrain. He had a wire snare around his neck, but fortunately it hadn’t yet done any damage. Dr Lawi cut off the wire, revived the topi, and off he went.

The second proved to be much trickier. The team attempted to find him for nearly seven hours, until nightfall put a pause to the mission. The following day, we mobilised Sky Vets again.

This time, everything went smoothly. After Dr Lawi darted the patient from the ground, the team moved in. The topi had a rope snare around his neck that had been there for several weeks and had cut into the skin. Thanks to intervention, however, he should make a speedy recovery.