A pack of Africa’s second-most endangered predators arrived in the area late last week to the detriment of one poor wildebeest. nThambo Tree Camp guests were on their morning game drive when they pulled up to this unusual sighting and watched the ‘playground bullying’ carry out between a couple of trouble makers and a lone wildebeest.
It is fantastic to see these incredible, painted dogs (also known as Cape hunting dogs) back in the area adding their splash of mottled brown, white and black colour to the drying bushveld. Nimble and quick, these predators are highly successful hunters with an often misunderstood hunting technique. To avoid conflict with big predators in the bush, a pack of wild dogs demolishes its prey within minutes leaving very little scrap meat.
This wildebeest was subject to a little bit of intimidation play by the younger members of the pack, while there was no real intention to attack. The pack of dogs was 10-strong and most of the elder members relaxed in the shade, while the teenagers engaged in a little horse play. They are very interactive animals and are often seen being affectionate towards each other. This time, guests got to watch the unusual sighting play out in the morning sunlight and take away memories of the endangered wild dogs in their natural home.
P.S. Wild dogs follow big herds of antelope and migrate through a large range, but only stay put when they give birth to cubs. From May to July the dogs will ‘den’, so that the pups have the opportunity to develop and gain strength to then move with the pack. Now that we’ve seen the wild dogs in the area, we can hope that perhaps a litter of pups has been born and they will hang around for a couple of months seeing as it is the start of their denning period…
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