Denning Wild Dog update

There have been a few interesting developments over the last few days…

The good news is that we have heard the pups in the alpha female’s den. It is a phenomenal experience just to sit and listen to them whimpering and squealing down in their birth chamber. The den site has been opened for viewing as from yesterday. It is still very sensitive so only one vehicle at a time is allowed. We also found the other subordinate female’s den not too far away but haven‘t heard the pups down there yet…

Sadly one of the five other adults has been killed by a lioness. One of the rangers saw the lioness emerge with blood on her face after chasing the five dogs into a thicket while they were hunting. We have only seen 4 of the dogs hunting the last few days and our worst fears were confirmed when the remains of the dog were found yesterday.

With their numbers being so low pack will battle to hunt and provide for so many pups. The Alpha male is still alive as we saw him yesterday so at least the social stability in the pack is still intact. We think it was a young female killed, so this leaves the Alpha male, the older short tail male and 2 young male helpers plus the 2 denning females in the pack.

See below image of the Alpha male (left), he has very distinctive white markings on his rump and a white bushy tail (males tend to have more white on their tails)

Below is the Alpha female (on right) heavily pregnant about a few weeks ago and another young female on the left. Look at the different colouration of the much older Alpha female, more tan in her coat and faded.