Sunday, 13 February 2011
Saturday, 12 February 2011
NEW PACK OF PAINTED DOG IN KASUNGU
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.
Monday, 31 January 2011
ZEBRA REPLY
Here is the answer to the question about the type of Zebra we have here in Kasungu. When I first saw them I knew there was somthing strange about them and that they were not just standard Burchell's zebra.
"The Zebras in Kasungu are Crawshay's zebras, they can sometimes have shadow stripes and most noticeably they have horizontal stripes the full length of the legs and stripes which often extend all the way round the belly. You should be able to find them on the internet on wikipedia or something like that but in books unless you have a very comprehensive mammal book the Crawshay's will be included in plains zebras and may not even include images to compare to."
The talk at WESM went very well and attendees aprreciated my efforts.
All is very quiet here at the moment except for the local people fishing in the dam. It is illegal but they dont seem to care. They say it is done because of poverty so I am going to try and offer some of the more desperate among them some work and see if that helps or not. Only time will tell.
"The Zebras in Kasungu are Crawshay's zebras, they can sometimes have shadow stripes and most noticeably they have horizontal stripes the full length of the legs and stripes which often extend all the way round the belly. You should be able to find them on the internet on wikipedia or something like that but in books unless you have a very comprehensive mammal book the Crawshay's will be included in plains zebras and may not even include images to compare to."
The talk at WESM went very well and attendees aprreciated my efforts.
All is very quiet here at the moment except for the local people fishing in the dam. It is illegal but they dont seem to care. They say it is done because of poverty so I am going to try and offer some of the more desperate among them some work and see if that helps or not. Only time will tell.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
HAPPY NEW YEAR
I have not written anything lately as it has been very quiet here. I have not seen any elephants for about 10 days now although there is often spoor left at night. The hippo and puku are still around the dam and the good news is that one of the hippos is now a mum and has a tiny baby. It is not as long as her head yet. Last year’s babies play a lot of the day and can be seen play fighting. When they are chasing each other they almost leave the water. Even when I go for drives in the bush most of the animals seem to have disappeared although a couple of days ago I did see roan again. Most of the larger water birds have found another place of sanctuary although the fish eagles are still around along with a martial eagle. There are many bats, swallows and swifts.
At this time of year it heaven for botanists as there are many wild flowers and orchids around. I have tried looking some of them up in my book but it does not cover many of the ones I see. If anyone is interested in carrying out a study of the flowers now is the time to do it.
On Monday I am going to Lilongwe to give a talk about the wild dogs and wildlife of Kasungu to members of WESM. I hope they enjoy it.
At this time of year it heaven for botanists as there are many wild flowers and orchids around. I have tried looking some of them up in my book but it does not cover many of the ones I see. If anyone is interested in carrying out a study of the flowers now is the time to do it.
On Monday I am going to Lilongwe to give a talk about the wild dogs and wildlife of Kasungu to members of WESM. I hope they enjoy it.
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