Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 29 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Apologies for being quiet for a while.  I’ve been busy with all sorts of things which hasn’t given me much opportunity in front of the computer lately.  We’ve just started the annual carnivore spoor survey in the conservancy, which involves driving along sandy roads at c.15km per hour and recording any fresh carnivore tracks picked up by our trackers.  It’s a useful tool to enable us to estimate lion and hyena populations, and we count all other carnivores as well; genets/civets/leopards/cheetahs/wild dogs/jackals etc.

Anyhow, I recently visited the Bedford pack at their den, and once again they showed what beautiful and charismatic animals they are.  So here’s a few more gratuitous pics of wild dog pups - just cos they are very cute!

Here is one investigating the camera trap I put up…

After which he decided it looked rather tasty!

 Whilst this smaller pup from the second litter decided a stick was a more suitable toy/snack!

And finally this one, who decided some dancing was in order!

Anyway, will be back soon with an update on the other packs and more from the spoor survey,

Rosemary

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Category: Uncategorized, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe | Date: Sep 22 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

We have some exciting news to report.  A new pack of three wild dogs has shown up in the south of the conservancy.  Rueben has once again proved his incredible skills as a tracker.  Faced with the seemingly impossible task of locating a small, un-collared pack of wild dogs across a range of hundreds of square kilometers with long grass hampering off-road tracking, he persevered and a couple of weeks ago found the dogs resting in a reasonably accessible location.  He managed to take a some photos before going to tell Lin Barrie (the wildlife artist and conservationist who lives on the property), who also managed to get some great photos.

As usual with wild dogs, given that they can be individually recognised by their coat patterns, photos are crucial to our understanding of which dogs are where and who is in which pack.  Excitingly, I don’t recognise any of these three dogs, which means they are not simply a breakaway group of another pack, but an entirely new group.  Add 3 to our conservancy wild dog population!!!

Moreover, the dogs seem to be settling in the south of the conservancy, where they have been seen several times recently.  This is wonderful, as they considerably augment the rather depleted population that was down in that area previously!

I’ve asked Rueben if he would like to name the pack, so once he has decided what to call them, I’ll let you know,

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: Wild Dogs, zimbabwe

2 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 21 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi all,

Sorry I have been quiet recently; work here at the wild dog project has been very busy.  Unfortunately my time here in Africa has come to an end.  The experience with these wild dogs has been amazing!

I want to thank everyone who read and responded to my blogs.  To all who helped with the project, I thank you and I hope everyone enjoyed reading my personal experiences.

Thanks,

Rafael

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Category: Carnivores general, Other wildlife, zimbabwe | Date: Sep 20 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

We recently had an amazing opportunity to go to a spotted hyena den with some film makers on Malilangwe Conservancy - a wildlife area to the south of the Save Valley Conservancy.  The hyena clan was a large one with six 8-month old cubs who were wonderfully curious and playful.  It was a real privilege to be able to spend some time with them at the den and they were very relaxed, being habituated to the filming car.  I just wanted to share these photos with you….

They aren’t quite as cute as wild dog pups, but they aren’t far off!

Have a look at Kim Wolhuter’s blog site (wildcast.net) for more photos and videos about the wild dogs and hyenas they are filming…

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: malilangwe, spotted hyenas, zimbabwe

One response so far

Category: Wild Dogs | Date: Sep 13 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Just a very quick post to show you some pictures of African wild dog puppies at play.  These are pups from the first litter of the Bedford Pack; just over 3 months old when these photos were taken.  Sadly one of the litter disappeaered a few months ago, but the remaining 11 are still doing well.

Rosemary

Tags: African Wild Dogs, wild dog photos, wild dog puppies, zimbabawe

2 responses so far

Category: Wild Dogs, zimbabwe | Date: Sep 12 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

I just wanted to send out another huge thank you from all of us at the wild dog team for all recent donations.  Rueben is extremely grateful for the milk powder I have bought him for his baby - when he next goes home, I’ll ask him to take some photos of the baby and his family for you all to see. 

Other donations to the project have also been very gratefully received and you can rest assured they are being put to maximum benefit here in the field, helping to conserve the amazing wild dogs.

Thank you all so much for your support,

Rosemary

Tags: African Wild Dogs, wild dog pups, zimbabwe

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Category: Other wildlife, zimbabwe | Date: Sep 05 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Just to deviate slightly from the theme of wild dogs for a minute… A couple of days ago we were in Gonarezhou National Park and stopped to look at a rock monitor lizard which had crossed the road.  As Rafael got out to see if he could find it, he heard a rustling in the grass by the road which he went to investigate thinking it was another monitor lizard.  But no - instead it was a pangolin!  One of those amazing, rare and elusive animals that most people never ever see.  MOST exciting!

Those of you who follow this blog may remember a posting a while ago about a pangolin sighting in the conservancy.  That, however, was spotted by Rueben and seen by my assistant at the time, Roy, while I was in the UK.  Mmmph.  So this was my first time to see the little fellow and i must admit they are remarkable creatures.  Note the white eye-lashes, and long front claws in the photos below.

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: Pangolin, scaly anteater, zimbabwe

3 responses so far

Category: Wild Dogs, poaching, zimbabwe | Date: Sep 03 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Some good news to report today: we managed to dart and remove a snare from another wild dog a couple of days ago.  She was a beatuful female yearling in the Bedford Pack - tentatively named Hopalong beacuse of the snare wound under her front right leg which made her limp badly. 

Here’s a picture of her with the snare (note the wound behind the front right leg, and the limp):

I was helped by Rafael, together with Karen Paolillo from the Turgwe Hippo Trust and a volunteer of theirs, and the snare removal all went well.  Karen found the dog after she had gone down (they tend to run off into thick bush after being darted and it can take a while to find them!), and quickly blindfolded her and removed the snare.  The wound was very deep and wide, but remarkably clean, thanks to the caring and social nature of the other pack members.

We did what we could - cleaning, disinfecting and spraying something to prevent tick/maggot or screw-worm infection, and gave her a dose of long-acting Penicillin.   

She recovered well from the immobilisation, and the following day when we went back to the den to check on her, she appeared with barely even a limp.  Such incredible resilience! 

This is once again thanks to the support of you folks out there who enabled us to buy the drugs. 

Rosemary

Tags: recovery from snare injury, snaring, Wild Dogs, wound treatment, zimbabwe

6 responses so far