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Hello and welcome to our September newsletter. The last two months have been extremely hectic but also very rewarding. Topping our list of priorities was an accurate headcount on the pups of the Mhunyamashi wild dog pack, which was denning in the Game Management Area (GMA). In order to achieve this a reed hide was constructed in 2 sections for ease of transportation to the den site. The den was located in the escarpment and was accessible only by foot; however as we had hoped, we were able to drive the vehicle part way up a dry river bed, leaving a shorter (though hair-raising) walk through two-metre tall adrenaline grass which brought us to a ridge just above the den site. As we neared this ridge we realised that the dogs had moved position to the east. Shouldering the hide sections once again, we crossed several more ridges and finally located the new den in a deep ravine, protected by rocky outcrops and shaded by dense shrubs and tall trees. Pretending to be grass we erected the hide on a ridge above the den site and after several consecutive day’s hiking up there we were finally rewarded with an unforgettable visual of ELEVEN five week old, chubby and boisterous wild dog pups. The youngsters at this stage were too young to sex accurately from our position on the ridge top. The mother of these pups would have died two years ago if we hadn’t removed two snares from her neck - seeing those pups makes it all worthwhile. Two weeks ago we left the Lower Zambezi on a scheduled trip to South Luangwa National Park. The dogs had spent 10 weeks in the mountains in tsetse flies and thick bush, forever moving "just over the next ridge" as we walked in to find them. Of course, as soon as we arrived in Lusaka we received a radio message advising that safari guides in the GMA had sighted the pack and the dogs had finally left the den. Six adults and ten pups were seen hunting down by the river on the main road. I actually knew this was coming as it’s now pretty typical dog behaviour, so I’d put out a bribe of a bottle of whisky to any safari guide that got footage and sexes of the pups in our absence. So far only guides who didn’t have cameras with them have seen the pups. Foiled again. At least I’ve still got the whisky. In the middle of all the excitement we received a message that a pack of eight adult wild dogs had been sighted well down river inside the park. On locating this pack we were amazed to find four new male immigrants to the area, the first new dogs to the park I’ve seen in five years here. They are large, strong-looking dogs and they turned up out of nowhere to join with the recently stranded females from the Mushika pack, who were abandoned by their males last year. Not only that but the alpha female, Port, was already pregnant. Thanks to the assistance of Lusaka veterinarian Sally Shiel and Ian Stevenson of Conservation Lower Zambezi, we were able to collar this pack relatively quickly – though not without some frustration as the new males were extremely skittish. After two abortive darting attempts on one gold-coloured male his name was changed from Midas to Clarke; due to the fact that he was "faster than a speeding bullet", or at least a dart. We have since been able to locate the new den by aerial tracking and were lucky enough to sight from the air six or seven tiny pups suckling from the alpha female. We still need a definite count on the pups so will have to hike in again, just over the next ridge. There is now the extra complication of seasonal fires in the escarpment to walk through, one of which has fortunately burnt itself out, within 50m of the den. We are thinking of naming the pups cinder, ash, smokey, braai, hotdog etc. The month of June also saw the completion of the first spotted hyaena survey for 2002, covering both the GMA and the park itself. This entailed two nights work into the early hours of the morning, playing noises of dying buffalo and cackling hyaenas on a kill, to a radius of 3.5km. The hyaenas come running in to be counted and circle the vehicle looking for the other hyaenas and prey. Lions also come in and we had to turn the tape off early at one site as a male from a pride of eight lion started to stalk the vehicle, threatening to make a meal of one of our assistants in place of the dying buffalo he couldn’t find. The results from the survey showed spotted hyaena numbers had increased by about 23% over two years. Another survey will be carried out in October this year. We managed to squeeze in the scheduled field trip to the South Luangwa National Park in August. This trip was designed to not only promote the AWDC project through education but also to encourage local safari operators and guides to assist the project through the collection of faecal samples for DNA extraction and by the completion of detailed sightings sheets. Two to three safari camps were visited each day over a seven-day period and the response was very encouraging, to the extent where I have been promised refrigerated truckloads of poo. I guess that’s a good thing. That’s us for now. As I leave you I’m sitting with my old flame, Limpy the elephant, a vertically challenged ellie who has made camp his home again after a long absence. Nice to see old friends. P.S. Over the past year things have been getting busy and I’ve been struggling to spend time fundraising while working towards my PhD. Consequently AWDC’s budget for 2003 is looking dire. If you or anyone you know can help with a donation please contact me through the feedback page on this site. Thanks for your interest and support.
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