October 2001

Newsletter, October 2001

We are now drawing towards the end of another season of field work, which has had its ups and downs as usual. One upside is that the wild dogs are thankfully still around in three groups now, the downside is I can't find the darn things. The main Mushika pack is hidden away somewhere having puppies, 3 months later than usual. Denning season for wild dogs in this region is usually midwinter (June /July), so October is quite late. This is probably due to the fact there is a new alpha male in the pack, Batman. The disappearance of Art, last year's alpha male, is bound to have caused some disturbance in the pack while they re-established their hierarchy, which may account for the late breeding season. Art may be up in the Game Management Area with the Jeki pack.

There has been an abundance of political struggles this year, and I have spent a large part of the season up in Lusaka trying to negotiate the renewal of my radio-collaring permits. The Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) is still in its teething stages and unfortunately there has been a distinct reluctance when it comes to decision making. As a result I still have no radio-collars on the dogs this season, despite having the new improved anti-snare collars sitting here in my tent ready to go on. This has meant less data for a lot more effort. On average I have spent four days driving around an area where the dogs have been seen to get one sighting of them, which may last anything from ten minutes to several hours. As soon as the dogs move off into thick jesse bush on a hunt they are lost. Even my Hi-Lux can't compete with the 60km per hour these dogs achieve on a hunt through rough terrain and lots of trees. Although I have tried. Fortunately all the safari camps in the area have been a great help and have reported sightings of the dogs to me within a few hours.

One of the highlights of the year for me would have to be a sighting of the Mushika pack on the open area we call "Out of Africa Plains". I found the dogs lying under a tree at 11.00am one morning, and managed to stay with them until 1.00am the next morning. I admit it was a bit dull watching them sleep for twelve hours, but then they took off on a hunt by the full moon.

They hunted the full length of the plain and chased two herds of impala, and then a large herd of buffalo they happened to run into. The buffalo hunt stopped when the buffalo realised they were only being chased by wild dogs and turned around to face them. The dogs continued on their way undiscouraged, and at one stage were trotting along right beside my vehicle, occasionally peering in at me. Watching those white tails bouncing around in the moonlight across the grass plains is something to remember.

The Mushika pack is now down to nine from the fourteen it numbered in June this year. The drop in numbers is mostly due to emigration from the pack. The four 2yr old females left the main pack in July, to go off looking for mates to make their own pack. In September we found one of these females by herself with her rear left leg missing, probably taken off by a lion. She was travelling along with amazing speed, calling for the pack continuously. Unfortunately neither she nor the other three females have been seen since. Wild dogs will often travel hundreds of kilometers in their search for new mates, so they may have moved out of the National Park and into a higher risk area.

Quasi, a lame female with a disfigured leg, was found with a neck snare in May and three weeks later it was cutting her deeply and caused an abscess in her neck. Three months later she had lost the snare, which must have been chewed off by the other dogs. Because of the lack of radio-collar none of the sightings during this time were long enough to get the Park's only dart gun down to immobilise her and remove the snare.

In August one of the Mushika yearlings disappeared, so there are now four survivors from last year's litter of nine pups. The Jeki pack has been seen occasionally up in the Game Management Area, but sightings have been brief because of the density of bush in that area. The dogs are usually only seen crossing the roads.

The snaring is not expected to improve in the near future, as the game scouts throughout Zambia are owed several months pay by ZAWA and are on go-slow in many areas. Poachers take full advantage of this. There has been an increase in ivory poaching in the Park in the last month, although the scouts in this area have still been working hard going on patrol. They are being supported with rations and transport by Conservation Lower Zambezi.

AWDC's educational work has progressed well. The new full colour leaflets and school posters are being distributed all over the region. A new education program is currently being planned for the Lower Zambezi National Park which will provide access to large numbers of visiting school groups next year. AWDC hopes to take on a volunteer next year to help with the growing work load. The reduced number of wild dog sightings this year has also allowed me to get on with collecting some necessary background data, including a lion census and vegetation survey. This will identify the areas the dogs favour for hunting and breeding, and help establish whether high densities of competing predators like lions force the dogs out of these areas.

Hopefully the promised three year permits from ZAWA will come through in the next two months to allow planning for next season, and the return of my sanity.

Thanks for your interest and support.

Special thank you to: Yancey Walker, Dwight Hibbard, Cincinatti Zoo USA, Arthur Vorys, Mark Reed at Sedgwick County Zoo USA, Danida, Werribee/Melbourne Zoos Australia, The Wallace Research Foundation USA, Elefriends Australia, Conservation Lower Zambezi, Airwaves Charters Zambia, Philip and Julia Leonard, Ian and Noeleen Parsons, Gwabe Lodge, and all the safari camps in the LZNP.

Kellie Leigh, Project Director, AWDC, Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia.

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