Alpha Female | Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

The re-discovery of Mina!

Category: Other wildlife, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe | Date: Jan 15 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

Internet been down for a while, so forgive the long gap between posts. It’s been an interesting week catching up with the wild dogs and other matters in the conservancy… I’m very sad to report that Squeaker the baby warthog didn’t make it. He seemed to be well on the way to recovery and was scooting round the lawn with youthful abandon, but then suddenly got sick again and didn’t pull through. Sad though it is, at least he died being cared for and with company, rather than a slow, lingering death from dehydration stuck in the mud.

As for the wild dogs, unfortunately we still haven’t managed to locate the Maera pack which is the pack with the snared pup. We have spent many hours of many days searching for them, but with no luck. They move such vast distances at the moment – due to the widespread availability of water and the abundance of impala and wildebeest calves, so I’m sure they are just eluding us!

We did however find the Mavericks pack recently – the sole remaining pack in the south of the conservancy and discovered something very interesting. The two males in the pack (two brothers) have been joined by a new female…. none other than Mina, the secretive alpha female of the Nyarushanga pack!! Mina was last seen at the Nyarushanga den in the very north of the conservancy in August last year. The pack didn’t leave the den until October, and it was presumed Mina was still with them, although we never saw her again. Unfortunately we never managed to collar that pack before they left the den, and have since lost track of them. Imagine our surprise therefore when one of them showed up 60km south with a completely different pack! It was like seeing an old friend again – I recognised her straight away because she has very distinct white markings.

Anyhow, it’s good news for those dogs, because the other individuals were all related so there was no chance of breeding (and indeed they did not den in 2008). Hopefully this year they will den, and Mina will have some more pups to augment the rapidly dwindling population in the south.

Back soon,

Rosemary

Tags: alpha female, conservation, snare, warthog, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe