Running With Wild Dogs!
I found this photo online: a beautiful shot of the very elusive “Wild Dogs of Botswana!”
So imagine how excited we were to find a pack!
Here’s a shot I got as they raced in front of our Jeep: yes, we were “running with the wild dogs” indeed, and they move fast!
We are in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, at the wonderful Wilderness Qorokwe lodge. We are out on our morning safari drive, and it started with a wild wild race with these dogs!
Check out this video as our Guide and Tracker Jacob spotted the dogs!
Here is more about these incredible animals!
Botswana is a crucial stronghold for the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), also known as the painted dog. With an estimated population of over 700 individuals, the country hosts a significant portion of the total remaining 6,600 wild dogs in Africa, making it one of the best places in the world to observe them in the wild.
They are endangered, which is why seeing them is even more unique – Alex explains how our encounter happened:
As Alex stated, Jacob is a terrific tracker and once he locked onto the pack, we were off and running with them – get ready for what we call a “African Massage”! !
A Classic “African Massage!”
It’s called an “African Massage” because we are barreling along on soft sand – we are in the desert region – so you bounce around a LOT, and it’s all part of the adventure – here’s more as we tracked them!
Here’s more info on these wild dogs:
- Appearance: They have a unique, colorful, patchy coat of red, black, brown, white, and yellow fur, with no two dogs marked exactly the same. They also have large, rounded, “bat-like” ears that help with temperature regulation.
- Social Structure: They are highly social animals that live in packs with strong bonds, often caring for the young, old, or sick. Pups are given priority at kills.
- Hunting: They are primarily diurnal (daytime) hunters and rely on teamwork and stamina to pursue prey over long distances. Their cooperative hunting strategy gives them one of the highest success rates among African predators.
- Communication: Wild dogs have an extensive vocal repertoire, including twittering, whining, and a unique “sneeze” used as a form of pack “voting” on whether to start a hunt.
After they raced away from us, Jacob decided to swing around to the right and see if we could get ahead of them – and it was a perfect and expert decision because here they came, relaxing a bit as they got closer to their home!
After the excitement ended, Alex interviewed Jacob about our encounter:
After about fifteen minutes, the wild dogs left our preserve on their way back to their den…but this unique encounter had one more surprise!
It also gave us a chance to spot another rare sight:
The Rare Spotted Hyena!
Yes, Jacob said that the lone Spotted Hyenas will track the wild dogs in order to eat anything left by the pack!
We loved how much we learned about the wild animals of Botswana, and I shared a story about how important safari tourism is in the fight to protect them!
This herd of Elephants grazed right outside our room, because they have the right of way! There are few restrictions for the wild animals – and these preserves work to keep them safe from poachers…here’s that important story:
I will have more stories about our incredible safari adventure, like I did when I shared our Leopard sighting:
You can see more video and inside info on this amazing cat…see that here:
I already shared a story about how they greeted us at Singita Boulders in South Africa on our first night, plus a look at the festive food welcome we got when we arrived…see it here!
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Categories: Africa, Exotic Travel, Memoirs, nature, Politics, safari, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
To date all I knew of the painted dogs and spotted hyenas were their names and roughly what they looked like. Thank you so much for all the photos and clear descriptions . . . fascinating! And I would have loved to look out of the window to see elephants grazing outside . . . truly feeling I was safely in their territory . . . 🙂 !
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The wild dogs and hyenas have always fascinated me…..great photos…..chuq
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Thanks!
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It was good to get so close to them. Those packs of small dogs are very effective hunters in a group. I remember being surprised by how large Hyenas were when I went to Kenya. They were much bigger than I expected them to be.
Best wishes, Pete.
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How lucky were you to see these incredible animals. The videos are great! Thanks for sharing them.
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It was another incredible day on safari – we loved it so so much!
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