Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Conservation of endangered wild dogs

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Wild dog update

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 01 2008 | By: admin

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Howzit again,

I’m afraid I start with a very frustrating and sad story.
Yesterday, we had just set off to look for tracks when a female wild dog walked across the road in front of us. My elation soon turned to dismay when we saw that she had been caught in a snare and it had cut a ‘red collar’ around the poor animal’s neck. Peter is qualified to dart the dogs in these cases but, unfortunately and ironically, he (along with all the equipment) is away on a refresher course for that very ability.
As darting wasn’t an option, and we couldn’t be sure if we would ever see her again, we decided to follow her to see if she was sufficiently weakened for us to catch and get the snare off. It would be painful for her (and possibly for us) but she would have a much better chance of survival with the snare removed. Distracted by trying to locate her pack, and the obvious pain and discomfort, she walked within ten metres of where we were crouched, but the distance was too great for us to make a successful attempt. She eventually saw us and ran off. I just hope she can be helped before it is too late. Another example of the cruelty of wire snares.

We are still getting reports of dog sightings, but we haven’t had much luck following them up. Our normal procedure for trying to find the uncollared packs is to choose an area where dogs were recently seen and slowly drive the roads and walk around the nearby pans looking for tracks. We are still waiting for the break that we will get a call when the person has just seen the dogs, instead of hours or days later. We can then sprint over there and hopefully get a good sighting and some pics.

From putting together the reports, we think that a new pack has formed in a previously wd-vacant area of the conservancy. This area is occupied by squatters and we suspect the snared dog may be from that pack, although I am still trying to match up her coat pattern to see if she is from the Jacana pack, as they also use this area.

I hope I have happier news next time.

Sarai zvakanaka,

Mike

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13 Responses to “Wild dog update”

Paula, on 01 Mar 2008

Sarai, this is heartbreaking news. I hope you can find her again and remove the collar as soon as possible. I’ve seen how these wire snares torture elephants, buffalo, giraffe, hippos and monkeys. It’s either slow strangulation or horrible infested wounds ….a horrible and painful way for any animal to die.

sheryl, washington dc, on 01 Mar 2008

Christ almighty, that’s a terrible story. Very depressing.

s.

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 01 Mar 2008

Will Peter be training you to dart these dogs? I will pay for you to go to a seminar for this education, if that would help. Do you need more meds? First aid kits (for human/animal). You see, it just breaks my heart…

Mike, on 01 Mar 2008

Reuben came to me this evening to tell me he had heard a dog calling nearby and he thought it was her. We managed to track her down shortly afterwards, as she was answering Reuben’s imitation of a wd contact call, but she is still in good condition and took off at speed when we were within ten metres… again. We aren’t 100% sure, but the fact that we couldn’t see the snare, and the strength of her calls, are making us optimistic that she has somehow slipped the noose. We won’t get our hopes up though until we see her under better light conditions.

Lucia Cristiana, Brazil, on 01 Mar 2008

What terrible war ongoing against wildlife… God has mercy of us…

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 01 Mar 2008

Thanks Mike for this update, it’s so disturbing, knowing that this is the fate of so many animals…

Peter, on 03 Mar 2008

Hi Theresa,

Many thanks for your email and your comments. We do need to raise funds to purchase some more immobilization drugs (ketamine and medotomidine), some anti biotics and needles etc, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much for your support. Snaring is a very upsetting and is a major threat to wild dogs in our part of the world, and to most other species.

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 03 Mar 2008

Hi Peter, good to hear from you again. Mike is doing a great job with his posts. Thanks for letting us know what is needed. The pay pal situation is not yet resolved, but I will make a donation, with instructions that it goes to your blog. BTW, I’m still researching snare detectors, I haven’t given up on that! When I find one that is suitable for the African bush, I will send it to you as a “test demmo”.

F. J. Pechir, on 03 Mar 2008

I´m very sorry to hear about this poor female! I hope you can help her in some way! Hi Peter, wellcome back to the blog.

F. J. Pechir, on 03 Mar 2008

Peter, thank you for your kind email, i just read it. I´m happy to know that the information and photo that I email to you last week about the wild dogs in Mudumu National Park in Namibia, and the actual situation of that pack has been usefull to you and Rosie and Margaret in the wild dog project. I will sent you any information about this pack as soon as I have it!

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 03 Mar 2008

Well Peter and Mike, now the donation box is gone from most of the blogs, including yours. Soon as it pops up, we’ll be back in business.

Peter, on 05 Mar 2008

Hi FJ,

Yes, the information you sent was very useful. An Africa-wide distribution map is being compiled for the dogs which is really helping to focus conservation efforts, so any sightings of wild dogs are very useful.

Thanks

Peter

Peter, on 05 Mar 2008

Hi Theresa,

I look forward to hearing from you on the snare detector, it would be cool to see how that works. Thanks also for saying that you will provide a donation to theproject, that is much appreciated.

Cheers

Peter

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