It was now 2 days that the dogs hadn’t hunting successfully.
Although this would have been fine in normal circumstances we felt the dogs needed as much energy as possible to help them through this rough time.
Only in extreme cases have wild dogs been known to scavenge but usually they prefer to kill their own prey.
So it was with apprehension that we decided to see if they would take a fresh impala carcass.
We dropped the carcass about 50m downwind from the resting pack and waited. It took some time for them to pick up the scent. First one, then two and then the whole pack found the carcass. They seemed startled at this ‘manna from heaven’ and stood back watching nervously not sure if they were about to steal another predators meal. Then as one they tucked in to the carcass.
They all fed really well and lay around with distended stomachs chewing on the last remaining titbits. All a good indication that none of them are showing any signs of rabies yet.
I was happy now to leave them for a few days as I head south to spend a few days with my daughters. (They are so concerned about the pack as many of the pups were named by them.) While I’m away the reserve management staff will still be keeping track of the dogs and helping them again if need be.
Yet another scene filled with Human hunters and various animals
In this particular scene we have a few human figures who seem to be in dancing mode. One animal included amongst the dancers and another above them. Could this have been an offering to the gods?
All is well.
The dogs were hunting right up in the north of the property today at Formadhunga but went hungry in the evening.
At dawn after a full on pack greeting for the first time in ages as a well structured pack, they headed back south in earnest. They were moving as a well coordinated pack again and hungry as they were they moved at pace keeping on south.
This is some of the best impala country on Malilangwe but somehow they managed to stay clear of the dogs this morning.
Eventually they rested up hungry again just south of Gananda crossing having covered some 12kms in the morning. A distance lions would cover on a really good night of travel.
They were now all looking rather lean but all still looked healthy.
These could be false signs but at least they are hopeful ones.
After finding Toffee dead and waiting for the results on the rabies test, it was 2 weeks before the Alpha female started showing signs of having rabies.
We aren’t sure how long we have to wait to be sure the dogs are going to survive. Only time will tell.
We had been advised by a number of vets to inoculate the dogs again a week or so after the initial inoculation. This mainly as a safety precaution in case we had missed one or the drug/dart didn’t go in properly. While they rested up this morning we were able to get the job done.
Except for Whisky. He’s now suspect of all this activity and is unfortunately losing faith in us, moving off slowly each time we approach. But we’re not too concerned about him as we inoculated him a few weeks ago when we fitted the radio collar. But we will do him again soon anyway.
This stunning display has been on the rough end of weathering. But there are still some great paintings that are untouched.
A giraffe tries to stick its head through the world of pink weathering.
16th May 2000
Not a good day for giraffe. In the south 7 lions were feeding on a freshly killed giraffe and in the north another 4 lions had killed a giraffe.
After visiting both carcasses we searched for ages for Tjololo with no sign of him or his kill from yesterday.
We eventually found him in the very north of his territory resting. In the early hours he headed south and back to where his kill was and seemed as surprised as we were finding nothing there. Not sure what happened to it.
Tjololo continued on west hunting. Following some 5m behind a couple of waterbuck cows for nearly a hundred meters he eventually decided they were too much for him, and continued pursuing some impala. The bush was thick, almost a solid wall, and I was surprised how long we were able to keep up with him before losing him around dawn.
So we said goodbye to Tjololo for a couple of weeks. Hope he doesn’t miss us as we will him.
(We took a break from 17th till 31st May. So no diary again till 1st June.)
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