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Project update
- November 2006
Jealous has had
his work cut, following the release of the 16 dogs from Pilansberg
last month. As reported, the 16 dogs split, with 4 of them returning
to our rehabilitation facility, so Jealous had four packs to follow,
namely, the Umtchibi, the Mashambo, the Pilansberg 9 and the Pilansberg
3.
However what followed caught us all by surprise.
Jealous became concerned when he caught
up with the Mashambo, picking up the signal from the alpha male,
who is the only collared dog in that pack. To his surprise, the
male was on his own with the 4 pups. They all looked fit and well,
but there was no sign of the 3 females, the other adults in the
pack. He stayed with the Mashambo all day and night, before reaching
the conclusion that the 3 females were missing.
The following day, 10 Pilansberg dogs turned
up at our rehab accompanied by the 3 Mashambo females!! The Mashambo
male was not far away and was clearly aware of the situation.
His loyalties lay with his 4 pups and he moved away to join them.
We were astonished by this development and could only sit and
watch the situation unfold. The Pilansberg dogs were obviously
of a very distinct genealogy from the dogs in Hwange National
Park, so we concluded that the Mashambo females somehow knew this
and the attraction was great enough to cause them to abandon their
pups. Shocking as this was, we could not intervene, though our
priority was to keep a very watchful eye on the Mashambo male
and his pups.
For four days this situation remained the
same. The Pilansberg / Mashambo combination stayed close to our
rehab. unit, while the Mashambo male stayed with his pups. Then
the Pilansberg dogs moved away, leaving the Mashambo females behind.
Our experience has shown us that, in general, females choose the
males, so again we concluded that the Mashambo alpha female had
decided that none of the Pilansberg males were as good as her
current alpha male. However she did not rejoin the Mashambo male,
nor did the other 2 females. All 3 of them remained by our rehab.
for over a week, despite the fact that the Mashambo male and his
pups were not far away. They showed no sign of looking for each
other and our confusion was complete!!
The Pilansberg males moved east and were
seen hunting a kudu. The report stated that 2 of the dogs were
limping and that lions were in the area, so Jealous temporarily
abandoned his vigil over the Mashambo male and pups and went to
locate the Pilansberg dogs. He found them quite easily and stayed
with them for a day, concerned that the 2 limping ones, were not
staying with the other 8. He went back to check on the 2 and discovered
that they had been killed by the lions. The surviving 8 moved
further east, where they remain to this day.
Happily, the Mashambo pack was soon reunited
without any apparent fuss or concern? Today they provide us with
a lot of pleasure, as their daily wanderings frequently cause
our paths to cross and the four pups continue to grow before our
eyes.
Once this status quo returned, Jealous was
able to extend his search for the Umtchibi pack, who had been
a bit neglected with the Pilansberg / Mashambo show taking centre
stage. When he finally caught up with the Umtchibi he was disappointed
to see that only one pup remained. We can only speculate about
the fate of the Umtchibi pups and will never understand why the
pack has had such a poor year in terms of its pup survivorship.
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