By Susanna Howe (University of Vermont)
Written April 27, 2013
What a week! With all leaders having the chance to spot these marvelous carnivores, it was about time for us students to see the African wild dogs. I was lucky enough to come across the first sighting on Sunday at around 8am. I was on a transect with Sixteen (one of our leaders) and two escort guides from Khwai, Amos and Isaac. There were 7 dogs total (2 adult male, 1 adult female, and 4 yearling pups). We watched the group lie in the grass, only really being able to see their goofy ears. Occasionally the pups would stand up to play and run around. After about 20 minutes the alpha male stood, followed by the alpha female and the rest followed. They trotted off and we thought that was it and continued on our transect. But that was not the end! A red lechwe sprinted across the floodplain, followed by the alpha male and the 6 others close behind in a full out chase! The pack spread out over 30 meters trying to surround the antelope. Sixteen, driving the car, sped after them and suddenly, out of nowhere, a juvenile male impala ran past our car about 5m away bucking its legs 5ft in the air with every leap.
As we caught up to the dogs, who had missed the lechwe that escaped to the the opposite side of the water, the impala sprinted past three of the pups that missed the young impala by 3ft. It was incredible! I kept cheering for the dogs but also not sure I wanted to see a baby impala taken out. The pups definitely need some training on their hunting skills. The guides were very amused by my reaction to just seeing the dogs lying around and practically had a heart attack watching the chase. After my Sunday sighting of wild dogs, I did not think my week could get any better – but the excitement continued through the week.
Wild dogs near the Khwai River (photo by Susanna Howe)
Sunday afternoon, Johnson, Khwai’s chief escort guide arrived and escorted us on bush walk, rifle in hand. We learned the ways of walking through the bush as follows:
1. Close toed shoes are strongly advised
2. You must walk in a single file line
3. Speak softly
4. Be aware of your surroundings
Although we did not come across much wildlife (though we did see a few elephants from a distance), we were able to gain a new perspective of the bush, observing plants, elephant and impala bones, elephant droppings, and spotting a hippo close by in a bush.
Walking through the bush in a single file line, Sam leads the way
The week continued with 3 more wild dog sightings of the same 7 individuals; everyone got at least one good sighting in! With our last week or so in Khwai we continued transects with the 6 escort guides. On Tuesday, we sadly had to say goodbye to 5 of the original 6 escort guides but were excited for 6 more to come! Thinking that no group of guides could beat the last we were excited to find out that the next set of guides were just as enthusiastic as the first. On Wednesday we celebrated Sarah’s birthday with peanut-butter chocolate balls, poems, squash soup (a favorite of Sarah’s), garlic naan, cake and Botswana trivia thanks to Susie! It was a good start to Sarah’s twenties!!
On Friday we spent our last night in NG19 at the beautiful riverside campsite and headed to Banoka camp in NG 18 on Saturday morning for our last week of field work. With fifteen days left we are headed into finishing course work and exams, but continuing to savor every last moment we have with the glorious Botswana wildlife.