Things looking better?
It’s hard to imagine that things could look better when the pack are dying of rabies.
This afternoon the pack left Nhoro pan and headed out hunting at dusk. They looked like any normal pack. The Alpha female was a little restless but this could be put down to her heavily pregnant state.
Then I saw her rolling in something. On closer investigation, it was dark, bloody and sinewy. Was she aborting?
Soon after dark after an unsuccessful hunt the pack rested up near Chimbira for the night.
We were back with the pack before dawn and already they had killed, fed and were on the move. We found them with bloodstained faces.
This meant they were hunting with less than half a moon. Wild dogs have been known to hunt around full moon but only a few days either side. But the Mupanigawa pack seem to hunt when they wish. There was a time last year where they hunted with no moon at all.
There were a couple of hyaenas in the area of the dogs too, but it doesn’t look like they got much, if anything of the wild dog kill.
This morning the pack look great! They were on the move east and stopped at the den they had used last year at Chimbira. Here they ran around playing while one of the pups dug away at the den.
It was then that I noticed the Alpha female. She wasn’t pregnant any more. She must have aborted her pups last night. And now she was into playing with the other pack members, albeit with a slight bit of aggression. Which could also be interpreted as disciplining the pack.
The pack moved on east at a serious pace, as healthy as ever. Well so it all seemed. Time will tell.
At Piccannini James dam the pack called it a day and chilled out. All resting, including the Alpha female.
Presumably having lost her pups she was now a lot more comfortable and not so irritable.
But with rabies things change so fast and we’ll keep a close eye on the pack.
It was then our turn to head to town to get our Rabies inoculations. Just a safety precaution.
Kim since the Alpha female aborted, was it the rabies do you think? If she were to survive would it be likely for her to breed again and have a litter yet this summer?
This is a very sad state of affairs in the pack. Will none survive? Is this why the wild dogs are in trouble in Africa?
It must be difficult for you to follow their decline.
Kind regards,
Toni-Ann
Yes pretty sure it was rabies. Such typical symptoms. no too late for her to breed again this winter.
Rabies and Canine Distemper are the biggest killers of wild dogs in Africa. Alongside with huge reductions in their habitats, they are finding it harder and harder to survive. And both these diseases have come from man’s domseticated animals.
Kim since you vaccinated the alpha female could it have been the vaccine that made her abort the litter. You didnt say is it live or killed vacine? It’s hard to tell I realize which was the cause just wondering which was more likely. I realize too its very unlikely that she would survive but where I live there was a girl that contracted the disease from a bat and she pulled through. No kidding I think one of only 2 or 3 cases in history! Although with the best medical care in the world. But it gives one a thought to hope for a good outcome.