Africa Imagery - Our new book - In search of the African Wild Dog

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Up close with Africa's awesome hunter
By Angelique Serrao
Published on the web by Tonight on September 25, 2009.

One minute we were driving along in the bush looking at empty scrub, and the next moment we saw one.

It was lying down, enjoying a mid-morning nap. It lifted his head and looked at us. But clearly we weren't important enough to warrant any interest, because it lay back down and went right back to sleep.

It was magnificent, a beast which deserved the nickname "painted wolf". Its white fanned tail twitched and the crisp white spots on its sides shone in the morning sun.

Why would anyone want to kill off such a pretty creature, I wondered.

We were in the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana in search of the African wild dog. And we found it. This was no small feat as these are one of the most highly endangered mammals in the world. There are only 3 000 to 5 500 wild dogs left in the whole of Africa. South Africa, which has the most viable wild dog population, has about 500.

Seeing a pack of dogs was a rare treat, one I will remember forever.

We had a bit of help in our search, from well-known wildlife photographers and authors Roger and Pat de la Harpe. Their latest book, In Search of the African Wild Dog, takes a closer look at this often misunderstood animal.

The first thing that struck me about the dogs was how beautiful they were, the second was how big - an adult can weigh 30kg. Many people confuse them with hyenas, but they look very different. Wild dogs have colourings so unique that they are like fingerprints. And they are much smaller than hyenas, which can weigh up to 90kg.

The wild dogs belong to the group Lycaon, which formed a new branch three million years ago and evolved independently from canids. Because of genetic differences, they cannot breed with domestic dogs.

On the go, wild dogs move very quickly, following the hunt, and it can be difficult to spot them.

But they den once a year, staying in one place to give the puppies a chance to grow. And it was then that we spotted a mating pair - there is only one in a pack - and thereafter many more dogs.

The puppies ran to the adult dogs and licked their faces, made sharp piping noises like that of a bird and rolled around in the grass. They were very playful and, observing them from our 4x4s, we laughed at their antics.

The dogs at Mashatu were introduced to the area last year and have been very successful. There are now 16 adults and 13 pups in the pack. The dogs give birth early in winter and the puppies are now three months old.

The De la Harpes hadn't seen the pack since they were there a year earlier working on their book, and they were seeing the puppies for the first time. Pat's face shone with pleasure.

Wild dogs smell. Sitting two metres away, I got a big punch of scent coming from them. It's a powerful musty, sour smell.

Pat says that when she and Roger started working on the book they went out with a ranger who took a big sniff and proclaimed she loved the smell.

"I thought I was with a very weird woman. How could you love that smell?" Pat said. "But after working with the dogs for more than a year, I know what she means. You get to love the dogs so much that you look forward to smelling them."

Their main prey is the impala, but the pack can take down a zebra or wildebeest. There is no record of a wild dog attacking a human, but this does not mean they can't.

"At one point we were on the ground taking photos" said Pat. "I was hunched down and suddenly, in front of me, I saw a dog I hadn't seen before. He growled and revved at me, which was quite scary."

Wild dogs have a reputation for being fearsome hunters. They kill almost every day because they work as a pack.

"When this pack was first released, they weren't used to the hunt and were tired and hungry," said Roger. "They were lying next to a tree when a family of warthog walked into them by mistake. It took them 20 seconds to see the warthog, take it down and eat it. In just those few seconds it was as if the warthog never existed."

This ferocious attacking style is the reason wild dogs have a bad reputation among locals. Part of the reason why they are so endangered is that local communities and farmers shoot them.

Roger said the dogs cared so much for the pack they would not abandon a dog if it was shot and humans could very easily take out the entire pack.

Wild dogs are also susceptible to diseases like rabies and distemper, and they need a big range so as to hunt.

Pat said that when she started the book she was hoping to base her writing on the local knowledge of the dogs, but she was disappointed to find that there was very little, which saddened her.

"It's amazing how quickly the wild dog is being wiped from people's customs. Indigenous people don't have a lot of remembered knowledge on the dogs."

The De la Harpes were sponsored by Sasol to produce the book and they are hoping the awareness and information they can spread will better their chances of survival.

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