African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)

[Sully]

The beautiful African wild dog
Posted on 8 September, 2014 by Mike Visagie
I have been lucky over the last year to see three different wild dog packs in Southern Africa, and the words that spring to mind when I think of these encounters are: energy, intelligence, community, cooperation, joy and lastly; smell. Boy do they smell.

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Recently in Madikwe, I came across a pack lounging in the shade away from the hot mid day sun. Even in the heat they huddled together in a little group sometimes making it difficult to see where one dog started and finished. We were only a few meters away in an open vehicle and the smell at times was overwhelming. I think it is generally unknown why they do smell, but it is presumedly so they can easily be detected from a distance by other pack members. Wild dogs also have scent glands located in and around their anus, on their genitals, and on their face. These glands are used to communicate sexual readiness, gender, age, health, and status of the animal. It is said that another wild dog can smell the scent left by the anal glands when another defecates and determine each of these things. Much like their domesticated cousins.

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The wild dogs live in packs of up to about 20 individuals and are usually dominated by a monogamous breeding pair. The female has a litter of 2 to 20 pups, which are cared for by the entire pack. These dogs are very social, and packs have been known to share food and to assist weak or ill members. They communicate by touch, actions, and vocalisations and this is easily seem when observing a pack of wild dogs.
Once I saw a pack of dogs chasing a hyena, who then scurried into a ticket where the dogs were unable to approach from behind. Individuals and pairs tried to flush the hyena but she aggressively showed them off, growling and baring her teeth. After about 15 minutes one of the dogs (I presumed the dominant male or female) ran around to almost every dog making small noises. The pack’s energy levels rose visibly and then suddenly this ‘alpha’ dog shot off with the entire pack following and yelping. The hyena sheepishly came out the thicket, looked left and right and then ran off in the opposite direction with what appeared to be frustration opposed to fear. Her demeanour was slightly humorous and it did bring a smile to my face. I imagined her thinking “Oh those silly dogs…”

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On another occasion, in the Kruger Park, I was driving along the road just approaching the Biyamiti bridge and I saw a pack of dogs running very quickly down the embankment to the river below. I was a little way from the bridge and by the time we got there and looked down to the river bed the pack had taken down a pregnant impala and had already removed the unborn calf from her stomach.

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What was interesting about this was that the pack had some young pups and the unborn calf was given to these pups to eat and play with. They could be seen in a tug of war with the carcass and at times one pup would grab the impala and run off proudly with its prize only to be rapidly caught up with, and the tug of war would resume.

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The adults rapidly fed off the female impala and they seemed to take turns eating while others either lay off to one side or played. From a wild dog’s perspective it was a happy time.

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*This image is copyright of its original author

One dog removed the stomach from the impala and broke it open and then proceeded to roll in the contents no doubt adding to the pungent smell of the dog. It reminded me of my own dog who will roll in any wild animal scat that she comes across and will come away smelling almost as bad as these wild dogs do.

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As I watched, it was amazing to see how quickly they managed to devour parts of the animal and the impala was rapidly scattered on the river bed as dogs dragged their own piece of their prize away. There was no aggression while the dogs fed and any excitement that developed was in play rather than anger.

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Two days later we drove past the same spot and all that one could see of the impala was the very clean bones. She had not only provided a meal for the wild dogs but a number of other birds and animals too.

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I imagine some might find the images and description above slightly disturbing however this is nature at its best and observing this death and feast was a wonderful example of the cycle of nature that is played out in so many different ways in the African bush. There is a Native American quote from Chief Seattle – “There is no death. Only a change of worlds” and this is how it felt that day.
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