What a truly gratifying and memorable 4 months we have spent immersing ourselves in the social and reproductive behaviour of one of the most engaging yet endangered mammals on earth!
Many of our guests have been eagerly following the development of the wild dog pups, enthusiastically arriving here and hoping for a glimpse of the youngsters!
Well the good news is that 7 of the 8 pups are still healthy and growing fast, we are not sure what happened to the 8th pup. The fact that 7 have made it this far is a credit to the experience of the Alpha pair and the hard working pack, so we now have a pack of 13 dogs!
They have now resumed their nomadic lifestyle as the pups are now old enough (14 weeks) to run with the pack. They do still sometimes make use of different termite mounds as short term dens for the pups while out hunting! The pups are also getting old enough to begin joining in on some of hunts which is all part of the learning process.
Biting a sibling’s tail, all part of the development of hunting skills.
When a kill is made the pups are mostly allowed to feed before the adults get to eat. They are allowed to eat first until they are a year old, which is the time that the hierarchy in the pack should be firmly established. The pups are dependent on the pack for 12 – 14 months.
So while we don’t know when the pack may appear on our traversing area we do eagerly await their periodic hunting forays to delight our guests for the rest of the year.
The pack of 13 out on the hunt!
Thanks Dave, awesome feedback and comments to go along with the great pics.
Thanks to your great reporting we feel so familiar with this pack already. Thank you Dave,
fantastic Article and amazing descriptive writing there DD, thank you for the updates. wow that must be such an experience watchin all 13 dogs in a sighting. #breathless
Dave: Thank you for the update. Let’s hope they stay around until September. Great pictures as usual.
Thanks for the update, Dave. We visited the pups with you about a month ago. It’s amazing to see how much they have grown in that short time!
I hope they stick around the area so your future passengers can see these wonderful animals!
Oh WOW,
Thank you Dave for the great pictures. It is so good to see how those wonderful pups have grown. We saw them in May, just when they came out of the den to see the world aroung them.
Great news that most are still surviving.
Oh WOW,
Thank you Dave for the great pictures. It is so good to see how those wonderful pups have grown. We saw them in May, just when they came out of the den to see the world aroung them.
Great news that most are still surviving.
Dear Dave,
Thanks for all your updates. I use them regularly in our Dog Call, The monthly "Friends of the Wild Dog "newsletter.
I will be in the USA , NY next week ( Of course I prefer to stay with the LH guys in the field) Nay way i will visit the Bronx Zoo and WCS due to the fact that they have dogs in their collection. So I will be with dogs anyway.
Looking forward to hear moere stories
Ron van der A
Painted Dog Conservation Foundation
The Netherlands
Thanks for the update Dave. I suppose it’s a bitter sweet time. So fantastic to see 7 out of 8 pups alive and healthy, but sad knowing they are now fully mobile and not stationed on your doorstep. I know all of you were hyped with excitement (as was I when I visited) at the prospect of pups. What an experience you have had, watching them grow. They really are the most amazing animals.
A pleasure to keep sharing with you all.
Ron I signed up for your "Friends of the Wild Dog newsletter" and look forward to keeping up with all the Painted Dog happenings. Good luck in NY.