Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Category: Random | Date: Nov 14 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Here, as promised, are some photos from Mozambique.  It really is a stunning coastline, and was a real privilege to spend time there.  I must say I needed the break too… You don’t get a lot of sleep when you are working on wild dogs in the day time and lions at night!

This is the bay that we stayed on (about 10m from the beach!)

Sunset from just outside my room….

And the beach again!

And, very excitingly for anyone who is interested in wildlife, we even saw a dugong!!  These are manatee-like aquatic mammals that inspired the mermaid myths (although it is hard to see why I must say, given how un-feminine they are!).  Nonetheless, an amazing and bizarre thing to see…

Anyway, I’m beginning to catch up with emails and other admin after the trip and will be out into the field again later today; I’ll let you know how the wild dogs are doing in a couple of days.

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: coast, Mozambique, sea

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Category: Random | Date: Oct 24 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

I’ve been getting very worried recently about the state of the project funds because I simply haven’t had the time to do the fundraising required.  But fortunately we just received the transfer from Wildlife Direct of the money that has been donated through this blog recently, which will help to keep us going for a short while.  So thanks again a huge amount to everyone who has donated - it has really saved the day! 

Knowing the money was there has allowed us to buy things like the drugs that we really, really needed.  And of course to continue to keep Rueben’s baby daughter supplied with good quality powdered milk.  Extra, unspecified donations are put towards the most critical needs, currently Rueben and Misheck’s salaries, cos without them, this project aint going too far! 

I also want to use this post as an opportunity to thank Wildlife Direct for hosting our blog.  Aside from the opportunity for people to donate to the project, it’s great to be part of a team of dedicated conservationists from around the world - even if some of their blog sites make me very jealous…..! (Like the Lion Guardians, which incidentally is managed by a good friend of mine and is linked with the project I was involved with in Kenya before moving to Zim!).  Nonetheless, we can’t all be super-duper bloggers like them, but it’s good to at least know there are other people out there working just as crazy hours as I do, on just as crazy but important things! 

And moreover, the comments and support we recieve from you readers gives us a real boost.  Although I don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to this blog unfortunately, it’s still been a great way of making contact with some great people and I urge you all to keep reading, keep commenting and keep donating!

Thanks from all of us and of course from the wild dogs,

Rosemary

Tags: blogging, donations, Wild Dogs, Wildlife Direct, zimbabwe

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Category: Carnivores general, Random | Date: Jul 12 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi guys,

I just want to introduce you to Moreangels Mbizah, a masters student from the University of Zimbabwe who has recently joined the wild dog project for her 3 month field project.

Moreangels will be analysing the faecal samples we’ve been collecting from wild dogs, lions, hyenas and leopards to look at the prey-choice overlap between this large carnivore guild.  This will help us to establish the extent of competition for prey that the wild dogs face from the rapidly increasing lion and hyena populations.  She’s also been helping us the last few days with a couple of wild dog immobilisations, which Rafael will tell you about in the next post.

So, welcome to Moreangels!

Rosemary 

Tags: Carnivores, faecal analysis, zimbabwe

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Category: Carnivores general, Denning, Education, Other wildlife, Random, Wild Dogs, poaching, zimbabwe | Date: Jul 11 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi Folks, 

Its been a real busy here at the African Wild Dog project. I thought I would let you all in on my involvement and recent happenings lately. Regular check ups on our known packs is one aspect of the project. Now that denning season is upon us, the trips to the den are now anticipated with the emerging of this years pups, like the Maera pups from Rosemary’s last blog. Aside from our visits with the known packs Rosemary is involved in other projects that involve the Conservancy but may or may not involve Wild Dogs. Im involved in the data management of these projects, which include Wild Dog sightings, Blood analysis and poaching occurrences. Also there are spontaneous things that happen, that keeps things very exciting. For example the other day, we had to help a fellow researcher here at Chishakwe free a lion out of a cage, that was intended to lure Cheetahs for research. We have also tried to help in the tranquilizing of Nyala at another section of the conservancy with again another fellow researcher of Rosemary’s. So not only do I get to work with Wild Dogs but I get to help out in other projects occurring at the Conservancy which has been a plus to an already exciting job.

I thought I would share a picture of home base. Most of the work and data is managed here. It is also a nice view with the ranch horses in our front lawn at the moment 

till next time
Rafael

2 responses so far

Category: Random, Wild Dogs | Date: May 11 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Mmmm.  It appears that the 4 wheel drive on my vehicle is no longer working.  I was out the other day looking for the Mapari pack who were unhelpfully about as far away from anywhere as they could be.  The road to get near to them was pretty rough, but we finally came unstuck trying to cross a small sandy river.  In fact it was the kind of thing you barely think twice about crossing with four wheel drive, but it was only when it was too late that I realised that the 4 wheel drive didnt work.  Oops.  So we got ourselves well and truly stuck and despite best efforts couldnt get ourselves out.

However, it wasnt all bad.  We were at least reasonably close to the dogs, so I decided to abandon the vehicle for the time being and walk off to find the dogs.  Which we did.  Unfortunately the wind was blowing in every direction so they smelt us and ran away before we could get a proper look, but nonethless, at least we found them.

So then we went back to the vehicle which sadly had not become miraculously un-stuck whilst we were looking for the dogs, and after another hour or so of fruitless jacking up and digging we decided we’d better call for help.

Next problem: we were out of radio reception… Fortunately, we had Misheck with us who had been tracking the dogs separately on his motorbike, only meeting up with us when he got the signal.  So he trekked off back to where we had left the motorbike and found a big hill from which he could radio for help.  Meanwhile, we carried on jacking up the car and putting logs under the wheels etc, but all to no avail.  Fortunately we were in a beautiful, scenic area of the ranch, so the waiting for help wasnt too terrible!

Eventually we were pulled out by the kind owners of Chishakwe ranch, and got home just around sunset for a much needed shower!  Needless to say the car is now in the garage!

Rosemary

Tags: four wheel drive, stuck in the sand, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe

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Category: Random, Uncategorized, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe | Date: May 05 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

I just came back from a trip to Gonarezhou National Park; one of Zimbabwe’s biggest national parks and certainly the most wild and remote area in the country.  The purpose of the trip was to do a recce for a forthcoming spoor survey we intend to carry out to investigate the status of wild dogs (and other carnivores) in the park. 

 Our bush camp

I was with a lowveld local – Clive Stockil – who probably knows the park better than anyone else, and we really did some proper exploring!  Some of the tracks we used had only been mapped again last year after 30 years without being used.  And here I use the word ‘tracks’ in the loosest possible sense – I certainly couldn’t see any evidence of a route through the bush, but fortunately Clive seemed to know where we he was going and we ended up emerging unscathed at the other end of the park!

We also managed to cross the Runde river – one of the biggest obstacles to working in the park – and were the first vehicles across this season.

We were rewarded at the other side by views of the famous Chilojo cliffs – truly spectacular.

We were very excited to pick up on a good number of wild dog tracks in the park, as well as tracks and other evidence of lions, hyenas and many of the smaller carnivores.  It will be very interesting to see what we find when we start working there properly later this month.

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: Gonarezhou National Park, spoor, Wild Dogs, Wilderness, zimbabwe

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Category: Education, Random, Uncategorized, zimbabwe | Date: Feb 24 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Chishakwe Ranch (where I live) is involved in an environmental education program in some of the schools around the conservancy.  I went along with the managers today to have a look at one of the schools and help out with one of their activities (painting chairs with wild animal pictures and information). 

The chairs before being painted

It was a very interesting day.  Despite it being almost the end of February, the school was not yet officially open, because the teachers are still on strike demanding pay in foreign currency.  They have been on strike since last year, and 94% of rural schools have failed to open this year. 

However, the dedicated headmaster of this school, despite not being paid and having no guidance from the education ministry managed to gather together the children involved in the activity and we turned up to a group of 30 or so very poorly dressed but well behaved and keen students.  All of them participated with enthusiasm in the activity, despite the fact that many had never painted anything before, and the result was a colourful array of chairs for their classroom, all illustrating different wildlife species.

Nonethless it was shocking to see how basic and bare the classrooms were - not a single picture or poster or teaching aid anywhere on the peeling and crumbling walls.  And the level of English was appalling too, which is very sad because the exams are set in English, and there will be little hope of any of them passing (even if they do ever manage to pay markers to mark last year’s exam scripts).  This is not helped by the fact that the vast majority of trained teachers have left the country and untrained and inexperienced people stand in as teachers.

It worries me this, because I believe that Zimbabwe is the wonderful country that it is, and has survived so long despite the worst, in large part due to the excellent education of its people.  Zimbabweans at school prior to 1990 grew up with an excellent education system which provided them with sound morals and an honest and hard-working attitude, hence the resourcefulness of people today.  With the lack of even basic education (schools were open for a total of only 23 days last year in many places), the prospects for the future of the country are worrying.  Where will the next generation of leaders come from?

We at the Wild Dog Project are keen to do something about this, and are currently working on ways of supplementing teachers salaries so that they are able to stay in their jobs, providing scholarships to the poorest and brightest children (from primary school up to university level), and providing resources to the schools.  We’ll tie this in with enhanced efforts in the environmental education program, but really we just want to keep children in school and keep decent teachers so that the children in the area can grow up with a decent chance in life. I’ll keep you posted with our progress.

I’ll add some pictures of the chair-painting experience to this post in a couple of days,

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: environmental education, schools, wildlife education, zimbabwe

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Category: Other wildlife, Random, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe | Date: Dec 18 2008 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Sorry for keeping you all in suspense over the fate of the baby warthog…!  Fortunately, this story is one that has a happy ending, so keep reading.

This is a photo showing ‘Squeaker’ when we first found him… You can see from the first picture how hard he was to spot…

This closer-up photo shows just how stuck and muddy the little fellow was.

I managed to wade into the mud (very nearly getting stuck myself!) and pull him out, and Misheck and I washed the worst of the mud off with some fresh water we had in the car.  Unfortunately his back legs didn’t seem to work at all, but otherwise he seemed to have quite a fighting spirit. 

Having absolutely no idea how to raise a baby warthog, I took him over to some friends who very kindly helped me get some rehydration fluids down him, and then provided me with some powdered baby milk.  I took him home and put him in a dark, cushioned box with a couple of sarongs for him to ’burrow’ into.  And then fed him with baby milk by pipette once every few hours…. 

The next day I took him to another ranch in the conservancy, to a very kind lady who has a great deal of expereince raising orphaned animals of every kind.  Despite my best attempts at physio (!) his back legs still were not working and he was really very weak. I have to admit that I didn’t hold out too much hope for him, but if anyone could pull him through it would be Anne.  Anne immediately took him under her wing and before I had even finished explaining his presence, she had listened to his chest, daignosed pneumonia and rushed off and fetched antibiotics, aspirin and a proper bottle of milk for him. 

He was touch and go for a while, but now seems to be improving steadily and getting around just fine, despite his dis-functional back legs. I’ll give you an update on him from time to time, but I’m sure he will now enjoy a good life in Anne’s tender care (with other baby warthogs and an orphaned bushbuck for company!).  

Squeaker dozing in the shade

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: conservation, warthog, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe

5 responses so far

Category: Random | Date: Nov 16 2008 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi guys,

It’s not always action here at the Lowveld Wild Dog Project in Zimbabwe. The last few days have been a quiet period with Rosemary and Rueben away; we haven’t seen or found sightings of the Wild Dogs for a few days, and have spent time on ‘housekeeping’ activities such as bicycle and motorbike maintenance—transport in the bush creates heavy wear on vehicles of all kinds and repairs are often needed, despite lack of parts, so we often have to improvise.

Here’s how we pump fuel for a fieldwork trip, using a gravity (siphon) pump.

The elephants were becoming such a problem on the ranch where we stay that we had to start doing night patrols and firing warning shots to scare them off. Interestingly, on the night that we started, the elephants were suddenly nowhere to be seen or heard, and haven’t been around since. Coincidence, or did they (somehow) get the message?

The rains have come here, and there have been a couple of gorgeous torrential storms on the ranch which wipe everything clean and re-shape the sand in the roads. It seems the storms do something to the sunlight, which looks clearer and crisper afterwards.

The impala must be nearing their birthing season (usually at the start of December, when the rains have come) because I observed some of the rams starting their ‘false rut’ behaviour, when the hormones from pregnant females stimulate some mating behaviour, although the main breeding season for impala is in June-July. The males were roaring ferociously, sounding frighteningly like lions, and chasing females around.

Having said that, as I lay in bed the other night, I did actually hear lions roaring outside.

Till later,

Roy

Tags: elephants, impala, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe

2 responses so far

Category: Random, Uncategorized, Wild Dogs | Date: Nov 12 2008 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi guys,

We have found spoor of the Nyarushanga Pack, a less-known pack in the West of the Conservancy which we don’t have a radio-collar for, so we rarely see them except during the denning season, but it’s good to know they’re still around.

We also have good news from a data-collection perspective: the missing piece of the GPS collar that we recovered from the poacher’s house has been handed in, and should hopefully be brought to our house today. We are hoping this is the piece with the data on it…It should have logged the movements of the collared dog, Sandy, which can help us get a sense of home range size and core areas for the Mapari pack.

A number of other interesting things have happened recently including Rueben finding the rarely-seen Pangolin between our house and his. This attracted a small crowd because this animal is so rarely seen. No-one present had seen one before.

It curls up in a scaly ball when threatened:

And can easily be picked up….even the local policeman dropped by for the occasion:

But it got tired of pretending to be scared of us and unfurled to wander away:

Then later that day when we were looking for the Bedford Pack, I met the legendary Greater Honey-Guide, a famous bird for its unique and wonderful behaviour. It evolved a special mutualistic relationship with people, in which, when it finds wild honey, it will come and find a human and attract his or her attention. Then it will lead you to the honey so you can smoke out the bees, on the understanding that you will share some of the honey (and bee larvae) with the Honey-Guide. Well, the one I met was trying to lead me to some honey, but sadly we were on other business and I wasn’t able to follow it! Here is a picture of the Honey-Guide who was inviting me to a possible feast.

On the way home, just a couple of hundred metres from our house, we found the fresh drag marks of a leopard pulling away an impala it had killed. We followed them a short distance to find a mostly uneaten impala ewe with its unborn foetus lying cold against a rock nearby. By the next day, both were entirely eaten. Below is Rueben following the drag marks.

Living in the bush produces so many interesting stories!

All the best,

Roy

Tags: African Wild Dogs, GPS collar, Greater Honeyguide, Honeyguide, Leopard, Pangolin, pangolin pictures, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe

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