Botswana Game Drive: Wild Dogs 2

On our second morning game drive, we were off to take a boat ride on the main channel of the delta when Bee received a radio message.  Another Ranger had spotted the wild dogs we had been following on a kill.  We detoured to see what the dogs were doing.

When we arrived on scene, the dogs were downing the last remains of a young red lechwe antelope.  The two males appeared sated, lying in the grass ready to sleep off their protein binge.  The female was working on the last recognizable piece of the kill.  There wasn't much left to fight over.  

The female works at exposing the last bit of edible antelope.  We thought maybe the two males were deferring to the female because she was pregnant and for the good of the future pack members she should have the last bit of meat.

So even though this doesn't look like much to fight over... these carnivores, not sure when they will see their next meal, didn't want to give up easily.

 This tug of war may be a little out of character.  Wild dogs are reputed to be among the most social and collaborative of African predators.  The entire pack plays a role in rearing young; for example, each dog will return to an active den and regurgitate food to support the nursing mother and pups. None of the aggressiveness displayed in hunting is ever inflicted on pack members, from what I have read.  Unlike the North American grey wolf, there is almost no intimidation within the social hierarchy.   

We left feeling pretty confident the female had the tightest grip on the last bite and probably wanted it more than the male.

We stopped by the kill site on our way back from the delta boat ride to find a bit of offal and two jaw bones left...the only sign there had ever been an antelope eviscerated on this spot.  The dogs had been so efficient at disposing of the lechwe, that there wasn't even enough spoils to attract carrion birds.

This meal went to a worthy cause.  The African Wildlife Foundation estimates there are only 6,000 wild dogs left roaming Africa.  They have been on the Endangered species list for over 20 years, their numbers reduced by declining habitat and encounters with farmers and herdsmen.  Unfortunately wild dogs are frequently blamed for depredation of livestock when the true villains are either leopards or hyenas.  Human/dog encounters frequently result in the poisoning or shooting of the dogs.  

Our Okavango pack of three is not typical of these animals, which are usually found in packs of 6 to 20 animals.  A large pack is actually capable of bringing down an adult wildebeest.  Hunting (or poisoning) wild dogs in Botswana is not too likely.  Botswana, in setting aside the Okavango Delta as wilderness habitat, has restricted traditional subsistence hunting/farming activities to two villages within the delta.  Each village is allocated a plot of land to develop for their needs with assistance to turn each plot into a natural attraction to further build Botswanan tourism.  As a result, Botswana has one of the largest populations of wild dogs in Africa.