Lean and athletic, African Wild Dogs range over territories that can be greater than 250 square kilometres. While visitors to the Kruger National Park are often focused on Big Cats and the Big 5, encountering a pack of African Wild Dogs on a safari game drive is something they will never forget.
Long-legged African Wild Dogs are striking creatures with big, rounded ears, powerful jaws, white-feathered tails and stunning coats of many colours, each one completely unique like a human fingerprint. They are Africa’s most successful predators with a deadly kill rate that is estimated at around 80%.
The power of pack life
Unfortunately, it is estimated that less than 1500 Wild Dogs are in existence today, with populations in just four places of their former range all across Africa. When it comes to African safari experiences, seeing Wild Dogs is as special as it gets. The two major reasons for the decline of the populations of African Wild Dog are habitat loss and killings by humans, and therefore the Kruger National Park serves as a critical haven for these remarkable and rare predators and is one of the best places to see them.
African Wild Dogs live in vibrant and complex packs, and the individual’s survival is dependent on their social bonds and engagement in pack life which includes communal hunting, feeding and raising of the next generation. Packs are dominated by an Alpha female and an Alpha male, and all subordinates are in service to the greater good of the pack. Most often only the Alpha female breeds in the winter months. Breeding is a time of high risk and high excitement for Wild Dogs. Otherwise always on the move, the pack faces greater vulnerabilities at being confined to a den area where Lion and Spotted Hyena are constant threats to the survival of both the cubs and the protective adults.
After three months of confinement with their mother in the den, Wild Dogs pups are weaned. They emerge into the sunlight to great excitement, twittering and sniffing, and every adult in the pack will generously regurgitate meat for them every day. Unlike another social predator, the Lion, where the Alpha males take the spoils and cubs survive on scraps, African Wild Dogs feed their young first.
Masters of the hunt
In past centuries, African Wild Dogs were reviled for their hunting success and brutal killings, but today, we recognise their simple quest for survival in nature and their extraordinary athleticism. Daily hunts usually take place around dawn and sunset, and possibly on a full moon night. Getting ready for the hunt demands a complex bonding session that is often described as a ‘greeting ceremony’, which involves much twittering and tail wagging.
These are high-stamina hunters capable of maintaining speeds of 40 kmph over a 5-kilometre stretch, and bursts of speed at up to 60 kmph. African Wild Dogs fan out over the bush in formation, keeping tabs on the Alphas who identify the day’s prey. While Impalas are a favourite, Wild Dog packs, depending on their numbers, can take down Blue Wildebeest, Waterbuck and even Zebra.
While encountering African Wild Dogs in the Sabi River region of the Kruger Gate Hotel happens quite regularly, it is unusual to witness a Wild Dog kill on a Kruger safari. However, here is one of our latest blogs where our guests witnessed an astonishing Wild Dog hunt.