WILD DOG SIGHTINGS - 2006
| WILD DOG SIGHTINGS - 2006 |
| December 2006 The game report period commenced with some remarkable wild dog viewing. In recent memory, the quality of this viewing could only be surpassed by the winter of 2003, when a pack of wild dogs set up a den site on Mala Mala for nearly three weeks. Normally the dogs are seen only once, and then move off the property, but they were seen almost every day for the first week of the game report period. They were initially encountered in the south of the reserve, but then moved north and then back south once again. They were seen to make many kills, in the morning and during the evening.
One evening, after moving northwards from the Charleston-Flockfield Boundary the dogs located a male Nyala in a thicket, and surrounded the animal. The Nyala embedded its hindquarters into a thorn bush and forced the dogs to attack it from the front. It managed to use its horns to fend off the advances of twelve wild dogs. While the Nyala was facing southwards towards the dogs, the Kapen Female leopard was stalking the Nyala from the north. The Nyala then saw the leopard and chased it away. As the leopard fled the Nyala, the dogs saw the leopard and proceeded to chase her up a tree. The dogs lost all interest in the Nyala and surrounded the base of the tree where the leopard had sought refuge. The situation seemed to be calming down, but then the cub of the Kapen Female leopard arrived on the scene, and was similarly chased up a tree by the dogs. After much entertainment and excitement the dogs left the two leopards and ran north. Before long they came across a duiker, which they caught with apparent ease. The dogs literally pulled the helpless duiker limb from limb and devoured the carcass within five minutes of the kill.
Several days later, the dogs were found sleeping in the south-central parts of the reserve during the afternoon. At dusk, the dogs awoke rather suddenly and trotted off westwards. It was a fine sight to see seventeen wild dogs running through the large open area to the south of River Rocks road. The leaders of the pack saw two impala and chased after them with startling speed, but missed out. The dogs then moved south and west and flushed a duiker from some thick bush. After a rather prolonged chase they caught the duiker and left most of the meat for the pups. A hyena arrived on the scene and was chased off by the pups which were clearly not keen to share their meal. Thereafter the pack moved back east, and chanced upon a warthog emerging from its burrow. Suddenly a number of piglets emerged from the burrow. The dogs wasted no time and quickly caught and killed three of the helpless piglets. They were devoured within minutes
Towards the middle of the report period, two dogs were seen in the northern parts of the reserve, initially around Matshapiri Dam where they chased the Son of the White Cloth Female leopard up a tree, and then later at Emsagwen Open Area. It is thought that this male & female pair are the two dogs often seen in a reserve to the north of MalaMala. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 19 November 2006 There were no wild dogs sighted during the November report period on Mala Mala. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 0 October 2006 Exciting news this month was the return of a pack of 18 Wild Dogs on South Eastern Charleston and there were10 adult dogs with 8 pups. The Wild Dogs are seasonal breeders and den over the period of May through to July. This means that the pups are a maximum of 6 months old and are still completely dependent on the adults to provide them with food. This was well illustrated at the single sighting of these dogs, when the adults of the pack, killed an adult Female Duiker close to where they had left the pups. The Adult Wild Dogs called the pups to the area of the kill and allowed the pups to eat the entire carcass. The adult members of this pack could well be the same members of the pack of 13 seen on Mala Mala in the earlier parts of 2006.
Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 18 September 2006 There were no sightings of wild dogs during the September report period. Wild dogs were heard calling on one occasion in the south of the reserve but could not be located. August 2006 There was one sighting of wild dogs in the August report period. This sighting was on central Charleston, and included three individuals. It is hard to say for sure if these dogs were part of the large pack that was seen in May in the north of the property. In any case the dogs were active and were eventually lost moving quickly through thick bush. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 3 July 2006 There were no wild dogs sighted during the July report period on Mala Mala. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 0 June 2006 After the excitement of May’s wild dog sighting it was hoped that these exciting predators would return and perhaps even Den on Mala Mala during June. However this was not the case and no wild dog sightings were recorded. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 0 May 2006 Disappointingly, the same pack of wild dogs seen in April returned only once in May. This pack of 13 dogs was located on the morning of 10/05/06 near Lion Waterhole and was moving swiftly westwards on the hunt. The landrovers barely managed to keep up with the dogs as they reached the Tamboti Thickets. Here the dogs rested for a couple of hours but became active in the early afternoon again hunting along the eastern bank of the Sand River near Flockfield Lookout. The alpha pair separated from the pack and were seen chasing after a single male impala but it was impossible to follow these dogs and they were lost hot on the heels of their target. The landrovers stayed with the group of adolescents who milled around the lower Matshapiri crossing until eventually the alpha pair returned with blood on their faces, an indication of their success. The dogs became very excited with anticipation of the meal, running around in a hyper energetic state as the alpha pair lead the rest of the pack back towards the kill which they had made in the Sand River off Flockfield Lookout. A feeding frenzy ensued with the dogs making short work of the adult male impala. A sociable event followed with the dogs grooming each other and rebuilding the social bond that is vitally important within the wild dog pack. As evening approached the dogs were last seen going east, possibly back to their den in the KNP where they would regurgitate food to any pups they might have. Tracks indicated that the dogs had been back on MalaMala a few times later in the month but no sightings of them were had. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 13 April 2006 Late in the game report period, after some expert tracking and intuition by a senior ranger/tracker combination, a pack of 13 wild dogs was found on the north-western parts of the reserve, near Boessi Road . The dogs were moving at high speed, obviously hunting and it was difficult keeping up with them. After chasing a duiker without success, the dogs moved south towards Ostrich Koppies. Here, they were successful in catching and killing an adult female impala, which was quickly devoured. Rangers followed up the next day, but no wild dogs were found again.
There were a high number of sub adults in the pack, probably pups from last years litter. Wild dogs generally have their pups in May/June, and with some luck, this pack may decide to den on Mala Mala, providing some stable wild dog viewing in the coming months. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 13 January / February / March 2006 There were no sightings of wild dogs on Mala Mala in January/ February MalaMala
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