Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 03 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Just a quick post to let you know that we now have a new pack of wild dogs in the conservancy!  I don’t know where they came from, but the pack consists of 4 adults and 4 fairly small pups, so they must have denned fairly late last year.  I haven’t actually seen them personally yet (despite following up on potential sightings and spending hours waiting for them at water points or endlessly driving round the areas they have been hunting in!), but the photos from my scouts and one other person show that they are all individuals I have not seen before.

The other good news is that we are seeing another of our un-collared packs fairly regularly at the moment as well (the Star Pack), so are able to keep a track of them (which is usually extremely difficult without a collar).  They have decreased from 8 (4 adults and 4 pups) to 6 (3 adults and 3 pups) since they left the den in October last year, but that’s not too bad.

The Bedford pack is still 30 dogs: 19 of their 20 pups from last year are still alive which is incredibly good, and all of the adults bar one are still going strong too.  The Mapari pack seems to have lost a couple of adults, but I’m not sure if they have been killed or simply left the pack.  That pack has had lots of movements of individuals so it may be that they have just split off.  We will of course keep an eye out for the missing two and let you know if they are sighted again.

The Mavericks pack in the south is doing well with their new Alpha female Mina.  I’m really keeping all fingers and toes crossed that they breed this year – March is the time for mating, so we should see signs of pregnancy in a month or so, if they successfully mate.

Back soon,

Rosemary