Woohoo!!

Wow! That's great news for you AND the dogs!

Great news!

Most exciting and thanks for sharing.

Any photos?

Awesome!!!

Hmm, I think I must have been looking into my crystal ball.

That's great, aby! I hope the rest of your safari is just as excellent.

Leely - no complaits - had some interesting observations

here is a link (i happened to be in the same place and time with a serengeti photographer...)

Serengeti: First Sighting of Wild Dogs in 20 Years
http://www.takepart.com/actions/serengeti-first-sighting-of-wild-dogs-in-20-years/52560

plus photos by photographer Uwe Skrzypczak
http://baraza.wildlifedirect.org/2010/02/08/serengeti-first-sighting-of-wild-dogs-in-20-years/

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/serengeti-wild-dogs.html#cr

http://www.serengeti-wildlife.com/wildhunde.php

photographer Uwe Skrzypczak sites:
website: http://www.serengeti-wildlife.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/U.Skrzypczak
Blog:
http://uweskrzypczak.blogspot.com/2010/02/serengeti-diary-01022010.html

Wow, wild dogs in the Serengeti, incredible opportunity !
Sadly, considering the high-end equipment used, the photos have been processed very very badly, a shame.

Agree TP, so-so photos, lot of close-ups with poor cropping.

regards - tom

3 years later...

20th Feb 2013, morning, on the road from Serena to Seronera:

a driver of another car told us he's seen ("twenty minutes ago") 9 wild dogs crossing the road and disappear in the bush. it was so sudden no photos were taken...

end of report

if joining reports together in this thread:

2006: sightings in Piaya (east of Serengeti)

http://www.fodors.com/community/africa-the-middle-east/mbwa-mwitu-back-in-the-serengeti.cfm

aby

ps - in kenya the dogs were denning recently at Sweet Waters. saw some awesome pictures

Wild dogs seem to be proliferating. Nice to get your sightings 3 years apart, aby.

Are you going to be in the Serengeti for a few more weeks or are you heading out soon?

I hope you're right, atravelynn. They need so much space and they have little chance once they leave protected parks. The pack recently released in Hluhluwe in S Africa didn't survive, one of the few parks large enough to sustain a pack. Two animals that will make me go back - dogs and the ever-elusive pangolin!!

Christabir - when did that happen? We saw a pack of at least 13 wild dogs in Imfolozi last May, I couldn't believe our luck. It was our last day in the park and we decided to take a short drive before having to head to Durban to catch our flight and stopped at a hide. A couple we had talked to the previous day told us they had spotted the dogs just earlier and gave us directions to find them (they were laying a ways off the road in the grass, we would never have spotted them otherwise). Off we went in the opposite direction of the airport and luckily we found them, what a way to end our stay !

kelly - I'm thrilled and very jealous!! Hluhluwe has a viable population.

There are a few packs in Hluhluwe, but have a small gene pool. Dogs have been released pretty regularly to prevent more inbreeding. I can't find the blog of the researcher who told of his latest release. But from what I remember, 2 males and 2 females were released and three died (due to various reasons). Some dogs "showed up" in Thanda, so a few more were relocated there as well. Due to snare poaching in Mkuze, their dogs have been relocated, too.

We, as safari-goers, need to include wild dogs in the "big five" so the private reserves consider them economically viable. Hate to say it this way, but they need to be worth more alive than dead.

I'm so jealous of everyone who gets the opportunity to see them. Having them in Serengeti is awesome!! I wonder if they were released or just showed up. It's all very exciting. Such an important part of a healthy eco-system. (and I hear they are very fun to watch).

The only game left on my 'must see' list - wild dogs and the pangolin.
When you mention this to your guide, most every one has replied "me to" - goes to show how rare these sightings.

Madikwe the only place to see them reliably. Have seen large packs including pups on 3 visits!

Madikwe - I was there in May of 2008 and the dog pack had dug under the fencing and escaped. Here's a rather old Forum report about it.
http://www.fodors.com/community/africa-the-middle-east/trip-report-wild-dog-in-madikwe.cfm
Maybe they have since put a concrete foundation under the fencing?

Other than that, my experience at Madikwe was of a beautiful lodge (Madikwe Hills Lodge) in large fenced in game reserve. Would not go back.

regards - tom

Madikwe is indeed a good place to see them but there are many other areas where you can also reliably see them and where they are quite common like Moremi, Savute, Kwara, Kwando, Selinda, Lower Zambezi, South Luangwa. I even saw them in Timbavati, Selous and Nxaï Pan.

Lynn
i'm not in Serengeti, but i'll be there towards rhe end of March
r u coming?

Christabir
"Having them in Serengeti is awesome!! I wonder if they were released or just showed up"
East Africa is wild to a large extent, e.g. Serengeti is not fenced, animals not released ...

"Hluhluwe...one of the few parks large enough to sustain a pack"
i wonder
found: "Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park covers an area of approximately 900 square km"
& according to lit' some painted dogs roam areas of up to 2000-2500 sq km...

Great to have them back in the Serengeti eccosistem!
In Zambia wild dogs are seens regulary in South Luangwa, mostly from december to may aound Mfuwe but i have seen them in october to.
In Kafue they are also seen and i hadde a memorable encounter with 5 of them catching a puku close to Treetops one september morning.
In Namibia, driving a february night on the trans-caprivi road i saw a single dog in the middle of the Bwabwata NP.
On way back, also in the night i saw 5 wild dogs moving along the road, this time at the edge of the Bwabwata NP close to the Kwando river.

I've seen the Wild Dogs - 4 adults & 4 cubs
at Serengeti Serena (from the lodge view point!!) on sunday march 23rd 2013 - early morning

aby

Great news! Did you get a feel if they are being seen regularly in the area or if it was a first sighting?

wp
as noted earlier in this thread
a driver reported a sighting on Feb 20th
Felix the lodge manager didn't know about them, same as the staff members who happened to be with us on the observation point of Serengeti Serena

wp
as noted earlier in this thread
a driver reported a sighting on Feb 20th
Felix the lodge manager didn't know about them, same as the staff members who happened to be with us on the observation point of Serengeti Serena

Christabir
i must correct my last reply to you:

1. wild dogs have been recently introduced into the Serengeti ecosystem
Felix, Serena lodge manager, told me 31 dogs have been introduced to the area between Kirawira and Serena
2. having checked home ranges
the huge homeranges quoted in literature (e.g. Estes behavioralguide) are fromserengeti

Christabir
i must correct my last reply to you:

1. wild dogs have been recently introduced into the Serengeti ecosystem
Felix, Serena lodge manager, told me 31 dogs have been introduced to the area between Kirawira and Serena
2. having checked home ranges
the huge homeranges quoted in literature (e.g. Estes behavioralguide) are fromserengeti