Which is amongst the largest concentration in Africa. Where to stay – Vundu Camp and Little Vundu CampĪlthough Mana Pools may have stolen the lime-light from Hwange, which is Zimbabwe’s largest national park, during BBC’s Dynasties series, it is home to around twice the number of wild dogs with numbers rumoured to be around 200 in over 30 packs. Secondly is the more remote area known as Chitake Springs – which, during the long, dry winter months is the only source of water for miles around, forcing wildlife to congregate, which in turn attracts predators packs of wild dogs and prides of lions, who lie in wait to ambush those who come and drink at the spring. The best time to see wild dogs is the winter months between July and October as the dogs tend to den close to the waterfront areas. Firstly, along and near the water pools and banks of the Zambezi River which flows along the northern most boundary of the park, which form a natural barrier with Zambia and the Lower Zambezi National Park across the water.
There are two main areas which are very productive when it comes to finding wild dogs in Mana Pools National Park. And, it is one of the few places where you can experience wild dogs on foot, under the supervision of an experienced guide. It’s also renowned for providing exquisite lighting, backdrops providing unique photographic opportunities. Mana Pools was the setting for the Wild Dogs episode of David Attenborough’s ‘Dynasties’ wildlife series. Watching wild dogs is always interesting – they have complex social interactions especially when they wake, greeting each other and are often very playful – you’ll be amazed at the similarities you’ll see between wild dogs and your loving companion back home.īelow are some of the best places to see wild dogs - there are other regions where populations exist, but my recommendations stand you the best chance of seeing these marvellous predators. Territory sizes for these critically endangered canines can be vast, so choosing the right place to go to see them is important (as well as the right time of year). Once the pups are a few months old, packs will often move them from site to site – so between March and October are probably the best times to see wild dogs as they won’t have the ability to move very far with a number of small pups in tow. However, they usually den between March and June with pups being stashed away in den sites. While this assessment provides baseline information for the three subpopulations, wild dog conservation in South Africa would benefit greatly from equal survey effort and standardized methods to accurately assess long-term population trends.Due to the nature of having huge home ranges, seeing wild dogs can be a little tricky, depending where you go. The circumstances in the country necessitate, and demonstrate the benefit of, intensive, adaptive management for the national population of wild dogs.
It is clear that despite differences in survey effort among the three subpopulations, South Africa has a small (∼500) but stable population of wild dogs, with the metapopulation contribution becoming increasingly important. However, the contribution of the metapopulation has increased significantly over time. Kruger has consistently supported the highest proportion of the national population over the last two decades. The overall national population has remained stable even though the number of packs has increased. The free-roaming subpopulation has remained small but stable, even though the number of packs has declined due to anthropogenic threats. The metapopulation is the only subpopulation that has increased significantly over time (both in population size and number of packs), likely due to intensive conservation efforts and the reintroduction of wild dogs into 15 additional reserves since 1998. We found that Kruger supports a substantial population, which has declined over time. We assessed the long-term (four wild dog generations, ∼20 years) trends in population size and growth rate within each of these three subpopulations. The national population in 2017 was 372 adults and yearlings and comprised three subpopulations: 1) Kruger National Park (Kruger), 2) an intensively managed metapopulation established through reintroductions into isolated, fenced reserves, and 3) a free-roaming population that occurs naturally outside protected areas. South Africa is one of only seven countries with a viable population of African wild dogs ( Lycaon pictus).
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