MARA – This week members of the Croc River Mountain Conservancy were treated to a rare wildlife sighting right on their doorstep when two wondering wild dogs showed up in the area.
Mr Gavin Kukard of the farm Katzenberg was the first to report his sighting on Tuesday morning on the conservancy’s WhatsApp group after spotting the animals just outside his garden fence. According to Kukard, he was looking out of his window to see why his dogs were barking. “I saw something running and while trying to see what it was, I spotted a second wild dog casually looking around. It was not the first time I have seen them as they passed here about a year ago as well.
“But as with my sighting last year, I could sense the disbelief from the other members of the group.” Luckily a second member of the group, Ms Jacobi Bach Nel, spotted the wild dogs again just a short distance from Kukard’s property. She was also able to get the needed photographic evidence to support the sighting.
“I was travelling down the Mara gravel road on my way to town when I spotted two animals in the distance. Luckily I had seen Gavin’s message earlier which helped to realise that it was indeed wild dogs. They did not seem to be in much of a hurry and didn’t mind the presence of my vehicle too much as I slowly drove behind them. Needless to say the kids were a little late for school, but it was definitely well worth it.”
Bach Nel was also able to record a video which provides some impressive audio of the unique calls of the wild dogs. You can view the video on www.lowvelder.co.za.
According to her, sightings like these bring hope to the members of the conservancy that was declared almost 20 years ago. “Our members in the Croc River Mountain Conservancy work hard to maintain the natural habitat, curb poaching and control alien-plant invasion and wildfires. The fact that animals like the wild dogs seek refuge here is something that we take as a sign that we are making progress.”
Although wild dogs are known for travelling long distances in a single day, their stay in the Mara Valley area was not over as they were again spotted the following morning.
Mr Steve Besters and his sister Ms Debbie Cushway of Imbabala Game Farm saw them just after 05:00 on Wednesday where they were feasting on a kudu calf they had managed to hunt down. Again some photos were taken of these endangered visitors and shared with the community.
According to Mr Ertjies Röhm of Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency this is not a new phenomenon. “To be honest we can’t really explain why these wandering dogs go back to the Mara Valley time and time again. Presumably it might be a historical route that has been ingrained in their genetics.” With regard to why they leave the safe confines of the Kruger National Park, Röhm explains that it might be nature’s way of keeping the gene pool healthy by having some members wander off with the aim of breeding with members of other packs.
On Wednesday Röhm attempted to dart the wild dogs so that they could be returned to KNP, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The dogs became a bit too wary after many excited locals came to take pictures. When asked why the dogs couldn’t stick around, Röhm explained, “The wild dogs are very capable of taking care of themselves. They hardly ever get killed in snares as they simply chew them off. They are also not very prone to being hit by cars on roads.”
He feels that the only real threat to these animals is farmers. “Unfortunately they can do quite a bit of damage to livestock numbers as they are extremely good hunters. In the wild they hunt more economically but it seems that they quickly figure out that livestock are soft targets and then cause a lot of damage. “This kind of behaviour often gets them shot and in the tough conditions livestock farmers are facing with the drought, tolerance will not be high.”
Interestingly enough, Röhm also mentioned that they even utilise fences very well to improve their hunting-success ratio by herding their prey up against them. “So even though there are only two dogs, their ability to kill is quite impressive.” For now the animals are free to roam in the Croc River Mountain Conservancy, or wherever their noses lead them, but Röhm is sure that they will be able to capture them and take them back to Kruger soon.
If you see these wild dogs wandering around please do inform Mr Ertjies Röhm on 083-626-6309 or Mr Chris Hobkirk on
082-372-3350.
