Recently we featured a Kwando Safaris Wild Dog Update at the Kwando Camps in Botswana and listed a few other wild dog hotspots that we were tracking. Well great news as another of our known African Wild Dog locations has puppies! This time in the Selous Game Reserve of Tanzania.

Pregnant dominant female of the Selous Impala area wild dog pack.
Photo courtesy of Adventure Camps of Tanzania

Tanzania African Wild Dog Pups On the Way

The African wild dog pack of 10 dogs that denned near Lake Manze Tented Camp last year is now denning near the neighboring Selous Impala Camp. Puppies were detected inside the den on June 19th and typically within four to five weeks they should emerge so I expect a count of the new puppies should occur in the second half of July.

Two Litters of African Wild Dog Puppies!

It appears there will be a bonus with this pack as a subordinate female is also pregnant. Generally, if a subordinate female gives birth it will be three or four weeks later than the dominant female and usually the dominant female will then crèche the new puppies into the den with her own and raise them herself. This is a great evolutionary strategy as if food is plentiful then all the puppies have a chance at success but if times are hard the dominant females puppies have a huge developmental advantage with a 3 to 4 week head start so there’s a better chance of always raising at least a few strong puppies rather than losing them all. Packs with 10 or more adults have been shown to have much higher success rates in raising young then smaller packs so things are setting up well for this pack as well as for visitors who are sure to be thrilled over the next couple months in this area of the Selous.