jweis

I received an email today from my guide friend at WS, who reports that 6 of the wild dog pups from the pack in the Savuti channel have survived.

He had a great sighting and at one point, the adults came and lay under his landrover for shade!!

Hopefully these guys will avoid predation or other mishap and help the pack grow even stronger.

James

atravelynn

Thank you. Go dogs go!

santharamhari

James,

Thanks...this is the Selinda pack's pups? So 6 pups, with how many adults in the pack at the moment?

Hari

jweis

Hello Hari,

Not sure how many adults; I believe I counted 13 or 14 when we saw them in June.

I'l be back again in about a month and, with a bit of luck, I'll get to see them.

My trip is a long one (11/20 - 12/31), but I'll be able to log in once between Bots and the Lowveld, so I'll make an effort to post anything exciting.

JAMES

santharamhari

Alright James, appreciate any info....

thanks

afrigalah

Oops, all thumbs tonight...hit the wrong key. I'll repeat: This seems to be about the Selinda pack's smallest surviving litter of recent years. I can recall many more pups than that when they denned near Zibalianja in 2002. Then 2003's litter of 12 (raised just 800 metres from Zib camp) was reduced to 8, so that was one of the smaller ones too. But in October, 2004, 30 dogs (14 adults and 16 pups) were counted drinking at the waterhole in front of Zib...obviously a great year for the pack. Then last year, another litter of about 12 was raised close to Zib, and I had the great pleasure of renewing acquaintance with the pack at both their dens. Let's hope the pack doesn't lose more pups this year.

John

santharamhari

30 dogs, WOW!!! ....John, did the pack split up? Some die out? combination of both from 2004? Did you get to see the pack when they were 30....i did see them in 2004, but i think i only saw about 20ish....April, i think)

Hari

afrigalah

Hari,

In April, 2004, you would have seen the pack before it denned. I didn't see the pack that year, even though I was there in August, but the Selinda newsletter (October, 2004) that I have on file refers to the 16 pups and 14 adults being seen frequently in the Zibalianja area after denning was completed. I don't know how the pack fared later that year...the odds are that there would have been some deaths and probably a lot of dispersals. But the pack obviously continued to flourish because it raised another sizeable litter (which I saw) last year.

John

PredatorBiologist

John: you are right about 2002 having good success. I saw the pack in January of 2003 and 11 of 12 pups had survived -- at that point they had 10 adults for a pack size of 21.