Wildcast

Another early start and I was lucky to find the wild dogs on the move. The pups were with the male and all already looking well fed, the male bloodstained from a kill.
While they lay around waiting for mom, they continued to show interest in me and my vehicle. And when mom did arrive from behind me and bark an alarm they took off in the opposite direction, but dad came running towards me. The pups soon followed.
The adults disappeared into some thick brush, leaving the pups standing around wondering where they had disappeared. Shortly they came bounding out the bush and regurgitated for the pups. And then back into the bush. This time I followed and found the adults on the remains of a young impala kill. The male was totally relaxed in my presence but not the female. (This is the first kill I’ve seen them on.)

The female moved off and was suddenly alarm calling. The male in the meantime was making short work of the carcass, but as his partner’s calls became more frantic he joined her.
Hyaenas were on the way and took over the scrappy remains of the carcass.
A mother and her 2 big cubs fed in relative peace. Another 2 youngsters arrived, but weren’t allowed to feed, the cubs keeping them away. They’re obviously from a lower ranking female.
It wasn’t long and the hyaenas had finished off the scraps.

I found the dogs chilling out at Manyuchi pan, now dry. The pups being totally engrossed in some elephant dung, all very new stuff to them. So much of what is out there is new to them and they’re constantly stopping to sniff at things. Exciting times for them. If only I could keep up with them and share these times.
Half an hour later they moved south and into the hills where they no doubt spent the day, the adults preferring to have the pups in the safety of the hills.
I didn’t follow on foot, as I didn’t want to disturb them anymore with this apparition on foot, which is what I unfortunately probably did when they were denning.
Then it was back to camp to work on my vehicle and I only got out again at midday, spending most of the afternoon at Sosigi dam. It was much quieter than the last few days, probably because of the strong winds and cooler temperatures.
Late afternoon I again tried to pick on the wild dogs, waiting at Manyuchi pan, as I was sure they’d pass by here on their way hunting. But they never did arrive. It’s quite likely they didn’t go hunting as they were well fed from this morning.
Hopefully I can pick them up there tomorrow.