Another pack of free-roaming wild dogs in the Waterberg

The fitting of GPS tracking collars on adult dogs enables the WWDI to gather valuable information as well as monitor the movement of the free-roaming packs.

Reilly Mooney of the WWDI told The Post about the rediscovery of a second free-roaming pack in the Waterberg district, near Mabula Private Game Reserve in the Rooiberg area.

According to Mooney this pack comprises of two adult male dogs of which one has been fitted with a satellite collar in February 2020, but since the GPS component stopped functioning in January 2021, their whereabouts were unknown.

“Originally the two males were part of another pack in Northern Limpopo, close to the Botswana border, but they broke away at the beginning of this year. However, they were spotted in June by members of the public in the Melkrivier area and then in July at Mabula Private Game Reserve, which means they have travelled over 330 km from their old home range to the Rooiberg area,” she said.

Mooney told The Post that visitors at Mabula spotted the two males when they were trying to seize a fresh wildebeest carcass from two cheetahs.

In order to monitor this second pack, the WWDI, in collaboration with the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), worked with Andy Fraser (veterinarian) and a team of community members to place a GPS tracking collar on one of the dogs.

This latest collaring took place on Thursday 15 July at the Mabula Private Game Reserve where the dog was darted on foot. With the help of Mabula’s staff and community members, the entire operation was completed within two hours.

According to Mooney they received confirmation that both dogs were spotted later that same day and that they were doing well.

“This successful collaring would not have been possible without the generous contribution of The Aspinall Foundation (TAF), which is a charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom, devoted to the conservation of endangered wildlife species. The Rory Hensman Conservation & Research Unit (RHCRU) based at Adventures with Elephants in Bela-Bela also contributed towards this project,” she said.

Mooney told The Post that they are hopeful that other free-roaming dogs in the area will join this new pack to possibly form another breeding pack in the Waterberg district.

She said “the smaller the pack, the more likely it is to travel undetected through privately owned farms and game farms, therefore it is imperative to be able to track them”.

Wild dogs are very adaptive and are able to thrive in rocky mountainous areas as well as grasslands, which makes the Waterberg and greater Limpopo, ideally suitable.

The Post recently reported on the only breeding-pack in the Waterberg district that welcomed seven new pups this year.

The WWDI partnered with the EWT and the owners of the private property, near Lephalale, to allow members of the public to visit the denning area in order to get a closer look at the pups.

Interested parties may contact the WWDI to book such an experience in advance. Find out more on the WWDI’s Facebook page: Waterberg Wild Dogs, or e-mail waterbergwilddoginitiative@gmail.com(.)