Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 13 2008 | By: admin

Howzit guys,

Don’t worry, we’re back. We’ve just had a few days off but now we’re all ready and raring to go.

It’s bizarre how we can spend days searching for the dogs without even seeing one pawprint, and then we find some without even trying.
For the past two days, we have located the new pack (provisionally christened, the Humani pack, after the area they occupy) within twenty minutes of setting off. UTM / Arc1950 36K 415431:7741236 and 413184:7742737, map fans!
Although our intitial sightings are on roads, they are currently using very dense, and pointy, riparian vegetation to rest up in. This is too thick to for the car to get through, so we follow them on foot (did I mention it was pointy?), as I am trying to see if the snared female has hooked up with them. Unfortunately, due to the thick bush and the amount of doggy eyes scanning for intruders, we cannot get close enough to determine if that is the case. If we disturb them twice, we leave them in peace, rather than keep pushing them. We will just have to bide our time until we find them in a place that is accessible by vehicle.

Misheck and Reuben stand at ease.

The other packs are as elusive as ever. We have received reports of sightings, but we are usually too far away and by the time we get there, it will be too late to begin tracking. As the sun gets higher, the shadows cast in prints diminishes and they cease to stand out, unless they are on really soft terrain.
In early April, we will be based on a more central ranch in the north of the conservancy so we should be able to respond to calls much sooner. The north has all but two of the known packs in the conservancy, so we should be kept busy, especially during the upcoming denning season.

Sarai zvakanaka,
Mike