Painted Dog Stories—45 years apart
Three wild dogs set out to make a new pack/ When the human becomes the hunted one
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AFRICAN WILD DOGS DEMONSTRATE the advantage of pack living. Alone, they are not that effective as hunters, yet as a pack, they are formidable and can catch and consume an entire impala in less than half an hour.
Loss of habitat has put them on the endangered species list, though. They are now one of the most threatened mammals on Earth, with only about 5,000 left roaming the savannas of Africa.
The poignant New York Times story below caught my attention as it also relates to animals roaming North America, such as wolves and mountain lions.
The Incredible Journey of Three African Wild Dogs
Three sisters braved lions, crocodiles, poachers, raging rivers and other dangers on a 1,300-mile transnational effort to forge a new dynasty.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/20/science/african-wild-dogs-zambia.html?
These wild dog sisters’ search for a place to call home is a universal desire of all beings, whether they have paws, feet, or claws.
Wild dogs, Lycaon pictus, have also been called “painted dogs” due to the vivid camouflaging patterns on their fur. These animals are the oldest living canines on Earth, and they share a long-ago ancestor with jackals, wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs.
They don’t look or sound like the dogs we know, though. They could almost be mistaken for hyenas, with vivid multi-colored spots, tall, thin legs, and large rounded ears. Their call is not a bark but a series of chirps, squeaks, and other unique sounds. (You can see and hear them below.) They are persistent and effective pack hunters of large game, catching their prey about half the time.
Wild dogs may leave their birth pack when it gets too large or for long-term survival reasons. If young females remain, they are often relegated to the position of maiden aunts who take care of the dominant alpha pair’s offspring. In leaving their birth packs, wild dogs avoid inbreeding and have a chance to mate. But dispersal from the group is dangerous, and many don’t survive a year beyond when they leave.
How do we know about this epic journey of the three sisters to form a new pack? One of the wild dog sisters was collared, and they were seen traveling together; plus, wild dogs are very dependent on each other and live within a pack culture.
In a world that may feel cramped for wild animals who need to roam for food or breeding, the presence of preserves or protected lands is critical. This was evidenced in the roundabout journey of these three animals as they sought safe territory, avoided human populations, and kept looking for prospective mates.
Their “grand walkabout …connected the dots of virtually every protected area in the region,” arriving most recently in Zambezi National Park in spring 2022. They seem to be waiting to tempt some young bachelors out of the local pack to start their own group.
Paola Bouley, a carnivore expert who had worked with wild dogs in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, said, “We’ve been watching with excitement, and nervousness, too. These dogs made history. [It] demonstrates how important it is to protect the larger landscape.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/20/science/african-wild-dogs-zambia.html?
Similar stories are happening in the western U.S. as wolves travel widely to look for mates, form packs, and create a life—all while avoiding humans. The young wolf, known as OR-93 (collared in Oregon), went on an epic journey down to central California in 2021, dodging populated areas, crossing highways, and traveling over a thousand miles in search of a mate. It was the first wolf seen on the central CA. coast in over 200 years. Sadly, it was killed by a car when it tried to cross Interstate 5 in Kern County.
Mountain lions and bears also need vast territories, and the barriers they run into in Southern California (freeways, dense cities, poisoning of prey animals) can be fatal. Animal crossings such as the world’s largest wildlife bridge being built in Los Angeles to span ten lanes of freeway help connect habitats and save lives.
Parks and protected landscapes next to each other give our wild friends places to roam in more safety. Enlarging those protected spaces can save species during this time of sixth mass extinction.
What can city dwellers do to help? Even in urban areas, small backyard pollinator gardens can provide habitat for everything from lizards to birds, insects, and small mammals. A hundred square foot (10’ x 10’) garden full of plants can provide precious urban habitat. Every bit counts when you’re a creature looking for a home, a meal, or a mate.
A Kenyan Painted Dog story
I SPENT SOME TIME IN KENYA, in east Africa, about 45 years ago and stayed in Tsavo National Park for a couple of months, camping with British and American friends working there.
One British friend, Digby, had to move a tractor from a mining location in Tsavo to a town about 60 kilometers away. It was a journey that would take most of the day traveling on dirt roads with some off-road detours. He planned to catch a ride back to the camp after dropping the tractor off.
Digby left early on a spring morning. When he finally returned to the camp late in the afternoon, he was visibly shaken. He sat around the campfire that evening and told us his story.
I had seen him set out with the rising sun, walking from the treehouse where five of us camped to the small gemstone mine a half mile away where the tractor was parked. He drove the open-seated tractor through Tsavo National Park’s scenic savannah lands. The red-soil landscape was dotted with acacia trees and brush, cut through with seasonal waterways. The May air smelled of sun-warmed leaves and grasses near the end of the rainy season.
Tsavo was rich with animal life in the 1970s. Digby probably saw various hoofed animals: gazelle, dik-dik, lesser kudu, giraffe.
After an hour or so of tractor driving, he turned off the dirt road for a cross-country detour that would shorten the trip by miles. He was thinking of stopping for a break when a pack of wild dogs suddenly flowed out of the brush and started running alongside him. The pack, maybe 20 strong, surrounded the slow-moving tractor. They leaped towards his booted leg when the tractor navigated a ravine, and he had to kick them away. He sounded the horn and drove as fast as he could, bumping over rough terrain and trying to focus on maintaining control of the tractor while avoiding the teeth of the jumping dogs. He said they seemed to have a single-minded intention, and he was their focus.
He was in the unenviable position of being possible prey to these intrepid pack hunters, and he feared for his life. I remember he confessed he couldn’t even pause for a drink of water or go pee as he thought the pack would have taken him down. He reported that the chase lasted for miles, and he was astonished at the wild dogs’ stamina and athleticism. Eventually, the pack pulled away and faded into the cover of bushes. Digby was too shaken to stop until he reached a paved road with cars.
In our modern world, it’s not often that we humans are the hunted ones and not the hunter. I never encountered any wild dogs except as seen from the Land Rover, but there were other predators in the region that I saw or heard: lion, leopard, and hyena.
My walks in the wild “bush” of Tsavo and later in the northern Turkana lands heightened the sense that we humans were not the top predators on the land. I had to reshuffle the hierarchy, and humans lost their dominance here.
Walking in this region felt like going back in time to an age when early man roamed on foot with spears for protection. I encountered some tribal members doing just that in northern Kenya, clothed in the reddish wraps their people have been wearing for centuries.
My rambles, often alone, required close observation of my surroundings, with an awareness that danger could be around the bend. Flickers of movement, grunts, bird calls— all were clues to what was going on.
This element of background fear—or wariness— imparted an aliveness and vividness to each day. It was as if the threat of danger made life all the sweeter. Carl Jung felt the expansive yet deeply stirring nature of the African savannah when he visited in 1925.
To the very brink of the horizon we saw gigantic herds of animals: gazelle, antelope, gnu, zebra, warthog, and so on. Grazing, heads nodding, the herds moved forward like slow rivers. There was scarcely any sound save the melancholy cry of a bird of prey. This was the stillness of the eternal beginning, the world as it had always been, in the state of non-being; for until then no one had been present to know that it was this world.
Carl Jung, on visiting Kenya in 1925
Months later, I returned to California, but the African “bush” still pulled on my consciousness with vivid, elemental, nighttime dreams of prehistoric landscapes and big animals. I realized that wild places could exert a psychic force on us as human animals.
For the creatures who live there, it must be even more encompassing. I’m rooting for the three wild dog sisters to find their new place and continue the long lineage of painted dogs.
Robin Applegarth
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Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.
Edward Abbey, author and activist
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Great storying telling, as usual, and I was fascinated by all of it. I was sad to learn that OR-93 was killed by a car, but thankful to hear of the wildlife crossings being built. Also interesting about the impact of experiencing wild places on the human psyche. So true. :-)
Wow! Thank you for sharing this and what an amazing story about the tractor. Such great reminders about having respect for all these animals, and that they have stories to tell as well.