Skip to main content

Wild Dogs

  


Rarely Seen Endangered African Wild Dogs

In seven years of living in South Africa, I have only seen wild dogs, also called painted dogs because of their mottled coloring, four times; three in SA’s reserves and once in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. I am of two minds when I see them. I shiver in awe on one side and fear on the other. Watching the pups at play is as delightful as seeing our family pets frolicking with their canine pals in the park. 


However, when on the hunt, they are focused, relentlessly determined, and terrifying.  


The dogs travel and hunt in packs and have an astonishing 80% success rate. Compare that to the mighty lion at 30%. Wild dogs will even corner petrified prey against electric fences, forcing the animal to electrocute themselves before going in for the kill. But why am I terrified when I see dogs on the hunt? Because I have witnessed a pack of four descend on a baby impala and eat it alive. 


Of the four dogs, three were young and robust, one was an old fellow with a limp. While they tracked the impala herd, two led the way; one stayed in the middle, running back and forth between the leaders and the older dog who could not keep up. We watched these dogs on and off over two days, and the behavior remained the same. The pack would stop when the older dog needed to rest. When the dogs surrounded the one impala, he did not actively participate in the kill, circling on the sidelines, waiting. As horrifying as the event was to witness, I worried if he would benefit from the hunt. 


The scene was brutal to the senses but what happened after the initial slaughter softened my heart to these endangered predators of the bush.


All three hunters, each with their own share, walked over to the older dog and dropped a portion for him to eat. But that’s not all; one of the dogs brought him the head, which according to our ranger, is an honor because it is a delicious treat. 


I wonder if this lesson is obvious to you as it is to me?


#wilddogs #africanwilddogs #painteddogs #respectyourelders #bushlife #ilovethebush #writing #personal essays #endangeredwilddogs #lastmonthsinafrica #okovongadelta #thebushcamp #mosethlaecocamp









Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Golden Glow of the Bush

  The Golden Glow of the Bush I have seen some glorious skies during my travels around the world, from the smog-induced fluorescent sunsets in Moscow to the burning red horizon in Lake Tahoe. Looking up toward the heavens at dusk is my favorite time of day.  But, nowhere have I ever been so mesmerized by the setting sun than in the bush. Why? Because the light the fading sun casts on the landscape is like no other. Call it the golden hour or the magic hour, or the hour when a quiet hush blankets the land as day turns to night. Birds sing their bedtime songs, jackals practice their forlorn calls, and predators wake, yawning widely, preparing for the hunt. The fading light signals transformation from the brightness to darkness, from things seen to those unseen.  Lazy, sleeping lions transform from looking like cuddly stuffed animals to ferocious stalkers of anything that moves. Hunger calls them to action, stealthy and relentless in their pursuit. Owls waken, looking for bu...

Super Mom

  Super Mom   Super Mom    Seeing a coalition of eight cheetahs in the bush is more than a lucky sighting; it is rare and magical. What's even crazier is that my friends and I had already seen this family many times during the year and a half before taking this photo. Here's their story. Two cheetah sisters had two litters around the same time. Sister one had six cubs, and sister two or three cubs. For whatever unexplainable reason, one of sister two's cubs migrated to sister one's family, making her the mother of seven. She quickly acquired the moniker of Super Mom by all the rangers in the park. One mom, seven cubs. She had to chase them all around when they were babies, feed them (they have about a 58% success rate when chasing down a meal), teach them the ways of the bush, and most of all, keep them safe. Whenever we saw them, they were healthy, playful, and did whatever mom told them to do - move, rest, get down from a tree, get out of the road, stay quiet! We g...

Ranger Dean

  This young man is Dean, and he is a ranger at Tandala Trail Camp in the Dinokeng Reserve. Dean is not just any ranger; he is my favorite ranger. At 25, his wealth of knowledge about bush flora and fauna equals any seasoned ranger I have gone with to the bush. In this photo, Dean hopped out of the vehicle to explain why elephants eat the bark of certain trees. It is because the bark of some trees is sweet and delicious. Dean also explained that the damage done to the trees will kill them unless the ellies only tear the bark from one side. If there is bark left on one side, the tree can mend itself, basically grow back the bark that acts as a shield against destructive weather and invading insects.   There are many things that I appreciate about Dean. His ability to identify birds by their call, tracking skills, and knowledge of the flora are remarkable. But the best thing is that he won’t carry a gun. Instead, he has a long stick that can help control a situation if an a...