Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Conservation of endangered wild dogs

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The lastest den

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 21 2008 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

After a brief interlude to discuss why we need collars, I thought I’d better fill you in on the new den site we found last week.  It’s on a ranch called Mapari Ranch, and we hadn’t been allowed on there since the beginning of the denning season because they were hunting.  They had a one week break from hunting when they said we could go onto the property…. On day 1 Misheck found the new den and we cleared a vehicle access route to it.  On day 2 we went in the car to see the wild dogs, on day 3 we were incredibly lucky and managed to fit a GPS collar onto one of the dogs and on day 4 when we went back to check on the newly collared dog, we even managed to see the puppies!!  Wonderful to have been able to do all that so quickly, as we now aren’t allowed back on that property until the end of October!  At least the collar will be collecting movement information for us.

Here are a couple of pictures of the dogs at the new den.  There are at least 4 adults, and at least 6 pups.  I think the very white dog (Luckybean) is especially beautiful.

copy-of-mapari-12-08-08-luckybean-adult1-rhs1.JPG   darky.JPG

The dog we collared (Sandy) is below.  She is also a very striking individual I think - with very few black or white markings.

sandy.JPG

sandy-immobilised.JPG

And very nice teeth! 

sandy-teeth.JPG

All dogs were doing well when we last saw them and the pups were still very small (probably only about 6 weeks old) so they will still be at the den for a while. I’ll keep you posted with their news when we are allowed back on the property to check up on them again.

Back soon,

Rosemary 

8 Responses to “The lastest den”

Sherri S., on 21 Aug 2008

Beautiful pups!

sheryl, washington dc, on 21 Aug 2008

Wow, those are nice teeth. I wonder if wild dogs have better teeth than domestic canines because of their diets?

So, do the hunters target the wild dogs? or are they just interested in killing off the rest of Zimbabwe’s wildlife?

s.

Maina, on 22 Aug 2008

Nice question Sheryl. It never ceases to amaze me that there are people who still call hunting “sport”. I do not even understand culling: but that’s just me.

Egil, on 22 Aug 2008

Well done! I know how hard it is…
You wrote you cleared a road to the den. Aren’t you afraid that by doing that the den is more likely to be located by lions or hyaenas? Or did you close it as much as possible afterwards?

sheryl, washington dc, on 22 Aug 2008

It’s not just you, Samuel. I’m completely opposed to hunting for any reason and culls are the devil’s work.

s.

justus Lekimangusi, on 23 Aug 2008

congratulation for the good job.I saw SANDY is alreeady collared and other that i dont know their names.goood luck

paul kitesho, on 23 Aug 2008

well done you for a good job keep it up.

zimbabwewilddogs, on 24 Aug 2008

Hi Egil,

When I say we cleared a road to the den, I really only mean that we found a route through the vegetation which we could drive through rather than walk. It’s impossible to get close to the dogs on foot but they seem to be OK with a vehicle so making vehilce access to all the dens is important. In the mopane woodland that involves some clearing of trees, but it’s hardly more open than before, and certainly not enough to alter how easy/hard the den is to find. As an aside, we had one pack that denned about 3 meters off a fairly main road anyway! But it’s a good point, and something always to keep in mind I think…

Rosemary

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