Wild dogs are the rarest, or the second rarest according to who you ask, carnivors in Africa, with an estimated 2000 specimen surviving in the wild only.
So how is it possible that a species that used to roam the entire African sub-continent, a continent larger than the Americas and Europe combined, has been pushed to the brink? Well, it is the usual suspects: land grab, agriculture, urbanisation (though this is debatable), and then in this particular case: tuberculosis! Wild dogs have a very peculiar social behavior, whereby only one dominant female in the pack has all the cubs (sometimes up to 20 at a time!), but then all the females of the pack raise and feed them. Problem is, if only one animal catches TB, then it will be passed on around, as all pubs feed from all mothers, and so the whole pack ends up infected, and as a result gets wiped out.
Our wild dogs are relatively safe here, as we only have TB-free buffalo, which is one of the main TB carriers.
We had not seen the wild dogs in a long while as they move around a lot, and so it was amazing to see them again. Well done Jonathan and Mike! They may not be the most famous of all African game, but definitely one of the most interesting and subject to loads of rehabilitation efforts. Our pack is very successful in the sense that they raise lots of pubs, and that is cause for celebration. For those who want to stand a chance of seeing these animals up-close, we definitely are the go-to reserve!
