Tag: #wild dogs

4 min read

This blog was written by James Frost, a Bushwise Professional Field Guide student. Each student takes a turn as camp manager and writing a blog is part of the experience.

Two weeks. Just two weeks in the bush and everything seems to have happened all at once.

I am James Frost, a ‘fake Aussie’ as one of my new friends has named me recently. Half Australian, half South African and all human, I was born in Australia and then moved to South Africa, which is the opposite direction to most people. We’ve been at Bushwise on the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC) campus for two weeks and have had some pretty incredible experiences.

After doing some serious theory busting for the first week, we finally started doing our first game drives. Each vehicle had a trainer with them and six members of each driving group had about an hour each to drive throughout the concession that SAWC is based on. I had the first go on Tuesday morning and we hadn’t been driving for more than fifteen minutes when we came upon some wild dogs. 

These dogs are a part of the Orpen Pack and their alpha male has very floppy ears, one of the ways to identify them as wild dogs have massive home ranges that they traverse. These home ranges can be as large as 1000km² however, 500 – 600km² is more common. The dogs will traverse this range regularly, often covering great distances in a day. A big pack like the Orpen Pack hunts once a day most of the time. Impala is one of their favourite foods and mostly they will target smaller antelope. However, there are reports of certain packs going for much larger prey like buffalo but this is very rare behaviour. Melchize and I have affectionately named the Orpen Pack alpha male ‘Floppo’ due to his ears. 

It’s not the first time we had seen this particular pack either. They made a kill right on the fence line on Monday evening. Myself and three others watched it happen. Although, to be fair, we barely saw any of it. An impala burst out of the scrub, bolted across the airstrip and hit the fence at full speed. All four of us immediately turned to look in the direction she came from. And then the dogs came, dead silent and would have looked quite scary had they not been bouncing above the tall grass like painted dolphins. 

Once the front runner was in the clear it caught up to the impala who had gotten up and was a little dazed. There was a slight scuffle as another dog caught up as well, a single anguished call from the impala ewe and then dead silence. None of us could get decent photos because it was so dark but soon all of us had a chance to see one of the rarest sights on the planet. Quite often the dogs start feeding before their prey is fully dead and will tear into it with wild abandon. Our trainers have told us stories of dogs eviscerating prey on the run and the guests looking rather sick upon witnessing their brutality.

By the next morning there was nothing left of the carcass and the dogs, after greeting me in the morning, were off and had made it quite a distance away from campus when we finally caught up to them. They were spread out, buried in the long grass snoozing off their meal from the night before. I was driving, as I mentioned previously, and we crept past them slowly when, out of the bushes, appearing like a breaching whale was a spotted hyena. 

From what I’ve observed in the last few days and from what I’ve been told by Fred (one of our trainers), hyenas follow dogs around hoping to glean scraps from their meals. The dogs aren’t a fan of this and will harass the hyenas, driving them away from their kills. We were fortunate enough to see this on Sunday night when the dogs first appeared. Yes, we saw the pack three days in a row. The younger dogs had backed a hyena against a bush and were really bugging it. 

Eventually the hyena found an opening into the bush behind it and soon the dogs got bored and went off for a nap. This particular hyena next to our vehicle was looking rather concerned. She was looking for the dogs very carefully and was also staying downwind of them. This meant that she roughly knew where they were at all times. She was careful to stay near enough to them that she could follow them when they started hunting but just far enough away to avoid suspicion.

Just three days. That’s all it took to learn an incredible amount about one of the rarest creatures on the planet. We saw them hunting (briefly), saw them playing and relaxing. Saw the interspecific competition with hyenas, even had a chance to see how they reacted to an elephant running through their midst. If I’ve taken anything away from the past two weeks it’s that there’s going to be a lot of experiences, a lot of insane little moments that need to be respected, shared and treasured. Both with the animals and with the friends we’ve made.

Would you love to experience wildlife firsthand like James? Apply today and make it a reality!

This blog about wild dogs was written by Allison Sponder. Special topic blogs are written by Bushwise students during their course, and all facts included are based on their research.

Read time: 4 mins

African wild dogs are my absolute favourite and have been for quite some time – long before I even thought I would witness them in person. Unfortunately, I think many people either do not realise just how fascinating they are, both as individuals and as a pack, or have been misled by misinformation. 

What’s in a name

For quite some time, but even more so recently, there has been a push to change the common name from wild dogs to painted wolves. Many people think the name wild dog makes them sound basically like stray dogs, which is one reason there are many misconceptions about them. While I understand the thought process, I also believe we should rethink why the term “wild” or even “dog” has such a negative connotation. Although wildly different, they do share similarities to our domestic breeds of dogs. People both underestimate domestic dogs and misunderstand wild dogs, but that’s a whole other issue. 

Coats 

Wild dogs are fantastically unique, both in terms of behaviour and physical characteristics. The coat colour of wild dogs is highly varied; it can include red, black, white, yellow, and brown. Each individual has a completely different fur pattern that can be used to identify them. Some of the dogs have larger patches of white fur on them – which I personally find just stunning. 

They have large, rounded ears, almost seemingly too big for their body. They are not large in size; they are actually quite similar in size to many domestic dogs, weighing anywhere between 18–36 kilograms and roughly one metre in length. Their lifespan is roughly 10–12 years as well. 

Wild dog packs

Each individual not only has their own look but their own personality as well. Which makes for quite an interesting pack. The packs can consist of anywhere from two to 30 dogs, but generally a minimum of six dogs is ideal for consistent successful hunting. 

The female alpha is in charge of the entire pack, making many decisions and choosing where to den. The alpha male and female are the only two dogs allowed to breed in a pack, but the priority of the group is to take care of the entire pack. All of the dogs look after each other, care for each other even when sick or injured, and take care of the pups. 

Everyone in the pack will look after the pups. When the pups are still denning, and it is time to hunt, generally the alpha female will stay with the pups. The rest of the pack will head off on a hunt, and after they are successful, they will return and regurgitate the meal for the pups and mother. After the pups are old enough to join in on hunts, they will be allowed to eat first at a kill. 

Wild dog hunts

One of the most fascinating behaviours exhibited by wild dogs is their hunts. They practise something unknown to most other species, democracy. 

Okay, it’s not that complex. However, they have been observed basically voting on whether or not to pursue a hunt. They do this by sneezing. If the majority of the pack sneezes, the hunt will be a go. Mind-bending! 

The hunt itself is also unique. Firstly, they are one of the most successful predators in the area with roughly 80% of their hunts ending in a kill. Although wild dogs can rely on surprise and quick bursts of speed, they generally take a different approach. These individuals have unmatched endurance even at high speeds, up to 60 kilometres per hour. They often will chase their prey until it exhausts and can no longer run. They eat quickly in order to consume as much as possible as fast as possible, because unfortunately for them, there is a good chance a much larger and more powerful predator is lurking nearby ready to steal the kill. 

Wild dog packs eat a variety of things and the size of their prey generally depends on the size of the pack. They generally consume small-to-medium-sized antelopes such as impala, and warthogs, but can even take down wildebeest, kudu, or small buffalo – although quite rare. 

There is so much to observe and learn about this species. Their behaviour, social structure, and capabilities endlessly fascinate me. Not to mention, they are stunning. Unfortunately, they are quite endangered with only around 6,600 individuals left in the wild. One of the biggest threats to these dogs is the loss of habitat, one pack can cover a range of roughly 1,500 kilometres which is incredibly large. Since habitat is shrinking constantly, they are running out of room to roam which means they are also running into other predators and in conflict with humans, specifically farmers. There are many efforts in place to conserve them, however we still have a long way to go.

Out here we’re constantly discovering new things about the birds, plants, and animals that call the African savanna their home. Join us where the wild becomes home.