thanks eben.

whohw.. great story! .. im really looking forward to the video of this!

strange that the single ones al left the alpha couple and the pups.. the pack seems to small to split up doesnt it?

Well, you learn something new every day.

In my two weeks following the migration while staying at Ndutu (Simuyu Camp), Piaya (Suyan Camp), Nasera Rock (my own fly camp) and Sero 4 in the central Serengeti (my own fly camp), I now see the migration a bit different than before. There are clearly 2 separate groups to look for.

The large nursing herds (with young babies), moved into the NCA towards the Southern Loliondo. A day ago they were spread out from Piaya down to Nasera and south of Lemuta Hills to near the Serengeti boundary (the largest densit was just south west of Lemuta Hill.

My guess is they prefer these areas because of the short grasses and fewer predators - with good visibility, water holes and the Maasai to keep the lions and cheetahs away! Hyena and wild dogs appear to be the only threats.

The largest non-nursing herds (no or very few babies) were between Gol Kopjes and Naabi Hill where they appear to like the taller grasses.

The large migrating zebra herds were just west of Naabi Hill where we saw several lions stalking them and a recent zebra kill.

The zebras are cutting down the taller grasses for the non-nursing wildebeest herds that are following behind. I guess the nursing herds will soon start to follow in the footsteps of the zebra and non-nursing herds.

Cheetahs were very active at Gol (hunting Grant Gazelles not wildebeests because there are very babies in this herd) and we saw a few full speed chases but the outcomes were unknown due the tall grasses! Both cheetah and gazelle would disappear from view just as things got interesting!

We had a great camp at the very scenic Nasera Rock and saw 7 wild dogs with a baby wildebeest kill on our first morning just 8 minutes from camp! We missed the kill by about 30 minutes I think. We did not expect to see the dogs so close and I am unsure if the magnificent 7 are from the group of 14 we saw at Suyan. If so, then I wonder what happened to the others? If not, then did we saw a new group?

I will have to talk to the guides at Suyan to compare pictures and notes.

interesting story!
but what about the group of 14? when I was in suyan in february there were 8 adults and 10 pups..
and you were mentioning earlier that the 6 single adults left the alpha couple right? Then these numbers don't add up..

I've got plenty of pictures of them (both adults and the pups) over here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikao/s...7594525161323/

maybe you can use it to compare as well.
do you have your pictures online somewhere?

Hi Nikau

No, on day one at Suyan we saw 2 adult females run off and we did not see them again. So the pack 14 became pack 12.

I have not talked to Ethan lately (no cell at Suyan) and don't know if the group 14 were reunited!

We saw 7 dogs near Nasera Rock. It was hard to tell if this is a new pack or part of the 14.

I will have to look at the videos.

I have a few pics with a cheap camera but do mostly filming (in HD which is harder to place on the internet but I will try in the coming weeks).

Nikao

I looked at my videos last night and I am convinced the Nasera group of 7 dogs are NOT part of the Suyan 14!!!

I now believe there are at least 3 groups of dogs in the area (the local Maasai is talking about a group of 2 that are sometimes seen)

These Nasera dogs are prolific hunters and seem to focus on a specific area to the east near Gol Mountains. We saw a trail of recent baby wildebeest carcasses in the valleys and gorges and even about 200 meters from our Nasera camp! Basically we just followed the vultures!

I am not a biologist and have no scientific proof of 3 groups but I am rather convinced it is indeed the case.

So things are looking up for the dogs of Loliondo and the NCA.

If that's true, that would be really great!

I hope there wont be sh#$t loads of tourists coming to that area and drive the dogs away....