Hi folks,  

Good news!  We found another den site yesterday…  We suspect it may be for the Ingwe pack: a fairly small pack that has been seen in that area before, although it is not their usual range.  I will be going there this afternoon to see if I can see the dogs and/or pups and get some photographs to try and identify the pack for certain.  I’ll keep you posted. 

Meanwhile, here is a picture of the Jacana pups… There is no good reason I should stick this photo in here, but I wanted to anyway, because I feel so privileged to have had such amazing sightings of such wonderful animals that I had to share it with you.

Three inquisitive pups!

 copy-of-three-inquisitive-pups.JPG 

The photo was taken early this morning, when I was at their den site trying to get a collar onto one of the adults.  We already have a GPS collar on that pack, but those collars have a very poor signal range so we try to pair them with a VHF collar which has much greater range.  The adults weren’t co-operating however, and were staying just out of range of the dart gun and/or just behind bushes.  Frustrating, but we have tried unsuccessfully twice now, so as per my generally optimistic personality, I’m expecting to be third time lucky! Anyway, the misbehaviour of the adults was more than compensated for by these curious and bold little pups who spent a long time checking out the car and playing all around us.  There are still 14, so no pup mortality so far.

Rosemary xx



Comments:
4 Comments posted on "Den number three"
admin on July 18th, 2008 at 8:23 am

Oh my god they are so adorable! I wish I could come see these guys!


sheryl, washington dc on July 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am

Thanks for posting the photo of the pups, if for no other reason than the cuteness factor. They are adorable.

Good luck on your third attempt to collar the adult dog.

s.


Emma on July 20th, 2008 at 7:40 am

African wild dogs are my favourite carnivores and I would be very interested to know if you have ever measured and weighed the wild dogs you’re studying in Zimbabwe. If so, can you give me the size ranges for the male and female dogs please?


Christine C. on July 20th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

Look at those ears!!!! It’s as if there is a bit of Micky Mouse in those genes…lol! Great pics and wonderful discovery of den three!!!


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