Tag: Painted Wolves

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Exploring Madikwe Game Reserve: Day 3

The usual early morning start, after a quick cup of coffee, had us out on our game drive as the sun was rising, providing a lovely background for a shot of a Pale Chanting Goshawk in a dead tree.

My pursuit of the perfect Lilac Breasted Roller shot (as mentioned in a few of my older blog posts) continued.

You cannot move far in Madikwe without seeing elephants. Sadly, elephant conservation in Madikwe is a victim of its own success, with the number of elephants now exceeding the carrying capacity of the reserve, resulting in significant destruction of vegetation. While debates about the management of this problem are ongoing, the size of the problem just seems to be increasing.

There was much activity at a nearby water hole.

About 90 minutes into our game drive, Sam received a radio message that the Wild Dogs had been seen in the far eastern part of the reserve, where they had caught an impala. Obviously we wanted to go there despite the distance and time involved. After another long drive to the east, we arrived close to the sighting, where we had to wait a while for our turn, since only 3 vehicles at a time are allowed at a sighting. But it was absolutely worth the wait. A pack of 14 Painted Wolves, including six pups of about 5 months old, with full tummies and in a playful mood, greeted us.

Liana got some lovely video

All too soon we had to move along and allow others their turn at the sighting. Driving along on our way back to the lodge and aware that we were going to be quite late for brunch, we just had to make a brief stop when we saw a group of four lions chewing on the remains of a wildebeest right next to the road.

After an action packed and exciting morning, the afternoon game drive was a somewhat more uneventful affair, but I did continue my pursuit of the perfect Lilac Breasted Roller shot

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Okavango Photo Safari: Day 6: Quality Time with the Painted Wolves

Once again we made an early start, driving east to the crossing, onto the island and then starting the search. We eventually found the Painted Dogs on the western side of the island, almost directly opposite Splash camp, but still only accessible via the long route to the crossing on the eastern side of the island.

When we found them, they had already concluded a highly successful hunt and their bellies were clearly full. They were starting to settle down for their daytime nap.

Some were still nibbling on the leftovers, but the hyenas were also starting to approach carefully, hoping to get a share.

Some Wild Dogs remained alert and a few token attempts were made to chase the hyenas away, but eventually they got their share.

Another visitor who managed to get a share, was a Kite (need birders here to tell me whether this is a Yellow-billed or Black Kite, since my apps give different opinions)

Some of the Wild Dogs were still playing around and nibbling on a tree stump, while others were clearly ready to go to sleep.

When they finally settled down, we departed for the long drive back to camp. As we were driving away, we also saw vultures approaching, looking for their share.

Still on the island, we saw a lioness with three subadult cubs and were told the amazing story that these were her younger siblings who she had been taking care of since their mother died from a snake bite.

In the afternoon we made an early start again, hoping to find the Painted Wolves where we left them in the morning.

Along the way, we saw a Side-striped Jackal

When we arrived, the Dogs were still fast asleep, but a few Hooded Vultures were moving around. These Hooded Vultures are know to follow the Dogs around, cleaning up after them.

Soon the pups started to wake up and look around.

With their bellies full, the Dogs were clearly relaxed, with a less frenzied greeting than the previous day, some rolling around in the grass.

There was no urgency to start the hunt and they seemed to be going on a stroll, exploring the countryside. We drove past and parked up ahead of them, managing to get some really nice low level shots of some curious Dogs as they approached.

Having spent as much time as possible with the Painted Wolves, we drove back to camp in the dark. This had been a magical two days, finding the Painted Wolves, seeing them at play and hunting. These are such amazing animals and it is such a tragedy that this species is at risk of extinction. If you want to learn more about them and support their conservation, please have a look at The Painted Wolf Foundation website.

Just before reaching camp, we spotted a male lion in the dark.

Liana managed to get great video footage during these two days with the Painted Wolves. Have a look at her video here, or if you want to watch it in full screen mode, follow the link to watch on YouTube.

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Okavango Photo Safari: Day 5: Finding the Painted Wolves at Splash

As planned, we left slightly earlier than usual, since we had a long drive ahead of us to the place where ST suspected we might find the Wild Dogs. Fortunately I had fully recovered from the side effects of the malaria prophylaxis and was feeling ready for the day. We drove in a westerly direction from Splash camp, almost to the boundary with the Khwai concession.

After about 90 minutes drive we reached the crossing onto an island where the Wild Dogs had previously denned. We started exploring the island. Almost 2 hours 30 minutes after leaving camp, we first spotted the Wild Dogs, who were in the middle of a hunt, which turned out to be successful. However, before all of them could eat, a lioness came storming out of the bushes, chasing them away and stealing their food. Warnings were sounded and the Painted Dogs were on full alert. We did get some good photo and video opportunities.

We followed them until they settled down for their midday nap. We counted 28 of them, an unusually large pack, including 9 pups, around 5-6 months old. Apparently these 9 pups were the survivors from an original 13 that were born in June/July.

Returning to camp for brunch, we decided to make an early start in the afternoon, hoping that they would not move off while we were away.

In the afternoon, we skipped high tea and left an hour early, for the long drive back to where we had left the Painted Wolves. Along the way we spotted a male leopard resting under a bush in the midday heat.

We were very happy to find the Wild Dogs where we had left them, still fast asleep. Soon we got word that several other vehicles were on their way from Splash and Kwara camps, having been informed that we had found the Wild Dogs. This was bad news to us, as there is a limit to the number of vehicles allowed at a sighting and, since we were there first, we could potentially be forced to leave in order to make way for latecomers, which could result in us missing the greeting ceremony when they woke up, and the subsequent hunt. Fortunately our guide, ST, managed to convince some of the other guides to combine their guests in one vehicle, resulting in us being able to stay.

As the Painted Wolves started waking up, yawning and moving around, there was much excitement. The youngsters started playing.

After a while they started moving off, intent on hunting, since some of the pack had not eaten in the morning and were still hungry.

Soon they made a kill, which was given to the pups to feed on, while the adults continued the hunt. Since the sun was setting, we had to leave them at this point and return to camp, exhausted after a long, but very satisfying day. We had achieved success, finding the Painted Wolves and spending time with them, having an awesome experience.

As an aside, I have had some enquiries about the exact locations of the places we visited, so found these maps on the internet, indicating the position of the Okavango delta in Botswana and the various concessions and camps within the Okavango

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Kruger National Park Day 10

Link to Day 9

Our last morning in the Park brought relief after the previous day’s heat. This clearly revived the predators, who were out and about.

Our first sighting of the morning was a Hyena family

While we sat watching them, Hennie got word of a pack of Wild Dogs nearby. We immediately abandoned the hyenas and set course for the Wild Dogs. We arrived to find a pack of thirteen of them jogging along the road and fooling around with one another.

Clearly someone had lost a cap and they were using it for a game of tug.

Things soon turned serious and they started hunting.

Their first attempt was unsuccessful, but this did not deter them. It was fascinating to see the teamwork involved, some flushing the impala out, while others did the takedown. Their second attempt was successfull, but due to the gruesome nature of the photos, covered in a separate post, linked here, not for sensitive viewers.

The impala was devoured within three minutes. Even the dog with a sore leg, who had surely not been of great value in the hunt, managed to eat its fill.

In the meantime, vultures started arriving to see whether there would be anything left for them.

While all of this was taking place, a Tawny Eagle also arrived on the scene

A Drongo took exception to the Eagle’s presence

After leaving the Wild Dogs, I had another opportunity to photograph an Oxpecker, this time cleaning a rhino’s nose

A stop at Lake Panic gave us opportunity to watch a Malachite Kingfisher and a Squacco Heron fishing.

Then it was time to pack up and leave for the airport.

On the way there, we still had one last surprise: a leopard trying (unsuccessfully in the time we had there) to crack a tortoise’s shell

Thus ended our week in Kruger National Park with our excellent hosts and guides, Bernhard and Hennie of B1 Photo Safaris