| WILD DOG SIGHTINGS - 2009 |
| December 2009 Almost every day there were signs of the pack, rangers tracked them tirelessly and often found the remains of kills but eventually most leads died out. The dogs were finally located but only three animals were found. As rangers watched they killed a young impala lamb and finished it off in no time. That afternoon another single dog was found and it to made an impala lamb kill, we are not sure if it might have been from the three in the morning or an entirely different dog. The pack itself looks to have disintegrated for the time being this means either something is going right for them i.e. they might be denning again or something is seriously wrong i.e. one of the Alfa dogs has been killed. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 2 November 2009 Tragedy has struck the wild dog pack again with the pack losing another member this month. The first sighting of the pack was on the first day of the report period and they were eight strong. The pack was seen six times during the report period but somewhere in the middle of the month they lost an adult member when they returned from the western sector. The pack provided great excitement each time they were on the property and made many spectacular kills, many on the newborn impalas lambs. Lets hope the pack can stem the tide of death at least until the Alfa female can give birth again and replenish the ranks.. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 8 October 2009 The pack was seen on five different occasions this month. But not all is well with the pack. Last month one of the three young pups disappeared and this month a further three adults went missing. The pack went from eleven at the beginning of the month to eight by the end. Three adults dogs have been killed, died or separated from the pack in order to try and start a new pack. Disperser dogs as they are known will break off in single sex groups and try find another group of opposite sex dogs and start a new pack. Lets hope for the sake of the survival of these magnificent animals that this is the case. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 6 September 2009 The large pack finally moved out their den site this month, their first order of business was to show their pups to Mala Mala. We found the pack moving east one afternoon; they crossed the river at the tree house and brought with them their three young pups. Surprisingly the pack has only managed to raise three pups this year, this is worrying as the mortality with pups is very high and these three might not make it, which would be a great shame for the pack. During the month this proved to be true when they came back onto the property with only two pups. Lets hope these two make it. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 12 August 2009 There were only two sightings of wild dogs during the report period. The first sighting was of all nine members of the large pack. They were found moving north from new firebreak. The pack reached valley road and spotted some impala. Giving chase the dogs disappeared westwards. Rangers following up found them with the freshly kill remains of a yearling male impala. Once the pack had devoured the impala they moved back west towards their den site. The second sighting was very brief as ranger found them moving west over the boundary already having killed something and on the way back to the den. Soon the pack will leave the den site and we expect to more of them as they move with the young pups. July 2009 The pack was seen twice during the month. Only eight members were seen which mean the Alfa female must still be at the den site with her pups. On one of the hunting excursions they were seen to kill a steenbok. Throughout the month there were many fresh track of the pack as they made hunting forays into Mala Mala but rangers couldn’t locate them before they left the property returning to the den site. Frustrating as it is to find the tracks only to watch them move across a boundary it will be soon when the pups are old enough to move with the pack and judging by the amount of movement eastwards it’s a very good chance the pack will move onto Mala Mala. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 8 June 2009 The large pack has denned just to the west of Mala Mala and so we will have to wait until the pups are old enough to get our first look at them typically august sometime. The pack minus the Alfa female who is tending the young pups was seen five times during the month as they made hunting forays into Mala Mala. They managed to kill three impalas and a steenbok during these hunting trips. During one evening drive a ranger found a pack of three dogs close to the northern boundary, these dogs are believed to be from another pack which would mean that they might be denning somewhere to our north. We will have to wait and see whether this is true and maybe they too will move onto Mala Mala with the pups when the times right. May 2009 The three cheetah sightings this month were all of the coalition of four young males. All sightings were up at Clarendon Dam. The four are still a little nervous around vehicles but it is a far cry from when we first started seeing them. With time and a little patience from rangers they will settle down and become oblivious to the vehicles following them allowing us to witness the beauty that is four adult cheetahs. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 12 March 2009 There was only one sighting of wild dog this month, and it was a brief sighting at that. The small pack of six had for some reason split on their afternoon hunt with three of them being found on the old airstrip. The three dogs chased the gathering herds of impala around in the pre dusk conditions until eventually they wore themselves out. No kill was witnessed and the dogs were left alone as the sun disappeared over the Drakensberg. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 3 February 2009 There were nine wild dog sightings this month. Eight sightings of the large pack now fourteen strong, and one of the small pack of six. The large pack concentrated around the golf course in the south and were seen making several kills during the month. The long grass did hamper rangers following the pack and often the kill was finished before anyone could find them again. The small pack made one appearance at the airstrip in the middle of the month. Still moving around the western sector the pack seems to have avoided other larger predators well and all looked in healthy condition. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 20
January 2009 The Wild Dogs have provided some excellent viewing over the last month. They generally are prominent on the western edge of the property, ranging from about half way down Mala Mala all the way to out most southern reaches. As always they have been taking advantage of the slower young impala and on one occasion killed three in the space of about 5 minutes. Unfortunately they do tend to run west a lot but we have seen them for at least half the month. The only pack we saw this month was the one consisting of 15 individuals, the other pack is still north of our property. Number of different Wild Dogs encountered : 15 MalaMala
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