Wild dogs photographed on the Masai Mara

16/12/2010 08:58:59 Gone to The Dogs
December 2010. In the 1980s the plains of the Masai Mara were not only bigger but also more bounteous in terms of predators. Lions, leopards and cheetahs were its most distinguished predators, but the wild dog was the most mythical. These 'painted wolves' need huge ranges and the vast dotted plains of this prolific eco-system were ideal hunting grounds. Sadly, distemper, encroachment, domestic animals and ignorance led to their extirpation from the Mara ecosystem. The farmers may have got what they wanted but others were robbed of Africa's most enigmatic, yet effective predator.

In 2008 there were rumours of a return of Wild dogs to the Masai Mara. Kicheche Mara Camp's manager, Jarrod Kyte, does not go in for rumour and hearsay, and nor do his guides, but after spending an afternoon in the Lemek Hills they were astonished to find a pack. The pack appear to have been transient animals and they were not seen again, although there was little doubt that a small number had returned permanently, though they were holed up in the close cover of the hills and escarpments of the Northern Mara and were highly elusive. This find had a remarkable effect on Kicheche's Masai staff, many of whom had grown up with the Wild dogs and were enchanted by them. Sadly though, there were no other sightings for over a year, until December 2010.

In this case they had singled out a Thomson's gazelle fawn and ran it down in quick time.

Wild dog kill
Kicheche Mara's head guide, Daniel Ntoyian, was returning from a local airstrip transfer. Right outside Kicheche camp he spotted two dogs. Hunting. Wild dogs do not ambush their prey like the other principal predators; they are coursing animals, like jackals and hyenas, and will chase prey for many miles to exhaust them. In this case they had singled out a Thomson's gazelle fawn and ran it down in quick time.

Gazelle fawn
One of the BBC's Planet Earth's signatures was the sequence of the dog hunt where despite millions spent they missed the moment of the kill. Daniel did not, nor did his two now breathless passengers enjoying their Dog Day Afternoon. For some reason only known to myopic visitors, the Mara is not very busy in November and early December, the dogs may know this which might explain why they were on the open grasslands. But to find them in hunting, what is more successfully is astonishing and frankly the hardest wildlife currency anywhere. Many said it would never be seen again - they've clearly never stayed at Kicheche.

African wild dogs
African Wild dogs, also sometimes called African Hunting dogs or Painted dogs, are pack animals. Each pack has male and female hierarchies; the oldest females are the alpha dogs, but for the males, the situation is more variable. Only the alpha female will produce litters, sometimes very large ones, with as many as 15 or even more sometimes recorded, though 10 is a more usual number. The whole pack is tasked with feeding and protecting the litter.