By Eda Reed (Colby College)
It was your typical Wednesday evening. We were sitting around the fire eating a dinner of pap (a sort of maize mashed potatoes) and lentil stew, while watching the beginnings of the sunset. Maya turned to me and said, “Do you see how fast those two Impala are running?” I had noticed a couple of Impala sprinting across the horizon, and jokingly replied, “Probably being chased by a lion!”
Two minutes later, something much stealthier moved through the Acacia scrubs. “Do you see that?” I asked Maya. The entire group’s attention was now directed towards the action, and Vehi identified the mystery sighting not as a lion, but as a wild dog! Given this was our first wild dog sighting, slight chaos ensued. Tea was spilled and shoes and cameras were forgotten as we piled into cars to get a better look.
There ended up being a pack of 12 wild dogs on the hunt! Three of which had radio collars for tracking purposes from Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (BPCT). Throughout the week we had two guest speakers from BPCT that talked about camera trapping and radio telemetry, so this was a perfectly timed sighting. It was starting to get dark so we couldn’t watch the wild dogs for too long, but this was one of my favorite moments of the week (perhaps because the wild dogs looked oddly similar to my dog Norman at home).
In case that wasn’t enough excitement, we also had sightings of lions, leopards, a cheetah, and plenty of herbivores, plus a visit to our camp kitchen by a troop of hungry baboons this week. We’ve all finally gotten the hang of things here in Sankuyo, so that means it’s time to move! On the 9th we head to Mababe for what I’m sure will be more excellent adventures.
Look up!
