A new pack of Painted dog (wild dog) have been seen and recorded in Kasungu National Park in Malawi.
Yesterday the 11th February 2011 I received a call from the Divisional Manager, Alphius Lipiya, of Kasungu National Park to say that he had just seen 5 painted dog. All adults. On arriving at the site there had clearly been several dogs around as there were foot prints everywhere, they were no longer around so we tried to find where they had gone. On inspection of a hole under a tree where the dogs had been digging was what we believe to be a striped weasel still curled up and ready to defend itself against the dogs or us. He looked to be ok but obviously it was very shaken. We left him there and returned to the camp. Some people have all the luck, I had seen one dog in 2009 but nothing since, yet people that weren’t looking for them had seen them again.
Knowing that the habit of dogs is to stay in the same area, if they have made a kill, I returned to the same spot at about 1800hrs to see if they were going to continue with their search for prey. There was still no sign of them so I turned the land rover around and decided to wait for a few minutes to let it get a bit darker. I had no sooner done this when right in front of me were 9 painted dogs. They were obviously timid about coming close to the car but that’s what they did. I turned the engine off and let them come as close as they wanted, some even sat down on the road while others investigated the car. All of a sudden one dog actually barked and they all got up and ran a few yards away. Some sort of warning I assume. They soon settled again but after a few minutes trotted down the road in the direction I was facing. I followed at a respectable distance while they ran in and out of the bush looking for prey. It was difficult to see their sexes but it appeared that most might be female although there was definitely at least one male.
I took many photos and videos of the dogs until they finally disappeared into the bush. On close inspection of these photos I believe that this is a new pack and not the same ones that we had recorded in October 2010. 2 of these dogs have white patches on them however none of the 17 dogs seen in October have any white patches other than the tips of their tails being white.
I have posted some pictures of these dogs on this blog for people to see however due to the time, cost and efficiency of the internet in the bush here in Malawi I can only post small pictures and it is very difficult for me to send large attachments to individuals to research.
Yesterday the 11th February 2011 I received a call from the Divisional Manager, Alphius Lipiya, of Kasungu National Park to say that he had just seen 5 painted dog. All adults. On arriving at the site there had clearly been several dogs around as there were foot prints everywhere, they were no longer around so we tried to find where they had gone. On inspection of a hole under a tree where the dogs had been digging was what we believe to be a striped weasel still curled up and ready to defend itself against the dogs or us. He looked to be ok but obviously it was very shaken. We left him there and returned to the camp. Some people have all the luck, I had seen one dog in 2009 but nothing since, yet people that weren’t looking for them had seen them again.
Knowing that the habit of dogs is to stay in the same area, if they have made a kill, I returned to the same spot at about 1800hrs to see if they were going to continue with their search for prey. There was still no sign of them so I turned the land rover around and decided to wait for a few minutes to let it get a bit darker. I had no sooner done this when right in front of me were 9 painted dogs. They were obviously timid about coming close to the car but that’s what they did. I turned the engine off and let them come as close as they wanted, some even sat down on the road while others investigated the car. All of a sudden one dog actually barked and they all got up and ran a few yards away. Some sort of warning I assume. They soon settled again but after a few minutes trotted down the road in the direction I was facing. I followed at a respectable distance while they ran in and out of the bush looking for prey. It was difficult to see their sexes but it appeared that most might be female although there was definitely at least one male.
I took many photos and videos of the dogs until they finally disappeared into the bush. On close inspection of these photos I believe that this is a new pack and not the same ones that we had recorded in October 2010. 2 of these dogs have white patches on them however none of the 17 dogs seen in October have any white patches other than the tips of their tails being white.
I have posted some pictures of these dogs on this blog for people to see however due to the time, cost and efficiency of the internet in the bush here in Malawi I can only post small pictures and it is very difficult for me to send large attachments to individuals to research.
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