Pack Life

The Mpindothela wild dog pack in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, has a poignant and compelling history. The pack's challenges highlight the broader threats faced by wild dogs, specifically as a result of living in close proximity to humans.

Formed in 2021, the pack originated from a group of four female dogs released from the Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) rehabilitation centre, who then joined forces with four males from the Mathathela pack, a pack which roamed near the PDC HQ.

PDC's rehabilitation centre is designed to temporarily shelter injured, orphaned, or problem packs, ensuring their safety and eventual reintroduction to the wild.

A Turbulent Three Years - The Story of the Mpindothela Pack

• 2022

The Mpindothela pack faced significant challenges in 2022, including the loss of key members. This reduced the pack from 8 adults to 4 in a matter of months.

The Alpha male,  Khule, was lost to a lion attack. Madube and the Alpha female Chenai were both killed by cars, and Peace, another male, mysteriously disappeared.

Despite these setbacks, the pack, under new leadership with Clara as the Alpha female, and Chase as the Alpha male, experienced brief periods of stability and successfully denned in June 2022, raising five pups. 

One of the pups was subsequently lost to a snare.

PDC decided to put a tracking collar on one of the remaining four pups, Camille, so they could keep tabs on the pack. 

• 2023

Snaring is a major concern in this Gwayi area of Hwange and despite regular sweeps by the anti-poaching teams,  Chase, Washy and Thinnet each had close calls with snares in 2023. Fortunately none were fatal and the PDC scouts were able to rescue each of the dogs.

In June 2023, Camille's collar pinged - the pack had denned again - right by the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls Highway! What a terrible chioce!

The PDC team were kept very busy, sweeping for snares in the area which is very accessible with the road passing through,  and calming speeding traffic. The team observed the pack going out on hunting forays and returning to the den to provide for Clara and the new pups. 

Wild dogs are nomadic,  travelling 12 miles a day on average, and sometimes considerably further. During the denning season however, or when pups are still young, this mileage is naturally reduced along with the probability of being caught in snares. 

PDC have been actively involved in anti-poaching initiatives in this area for 25 years,  including regular patrols to remove snares and combat poaching activities. In 2019 we donated $10,000 USD to support this specific programme. 

PDC's efforts have proven very effective, with local communities increasingly supportive and involved in conservation measures. This has undoubtedly helped to improve the safety of the wild dogs and other wildlife in the park. As a result,  there are as many as 150 wild dogs in Hwange today, compared to 17 years ago when there were none (apart from those in the rehabilitation centre).

However it only takes one snare to change the fortunes of an entire pack and for Mpindothela this happened during a moonlight hunting expedition at the end of September 2023 when, Clara, the Alpha female was killed by a snare, leaving the remaining adult pack members to support her 3-month-old pups. One of these was lost  to a lion in early October.

Then in late November,  Washy, one of the adult males, was trapped and killed by a wire snare.

• 2024

In the following months the pack, reduced greatly in strength but still with the Alpha male Chase,  really struggled.  

One by one the adults, and youngsters, were lost to snares until only one pup remained.

Nyaradzo the sole survivor at just 10 months old, is being cared for at the PDC rehabilitation centre, back where her own mother was cared for in 2021. She will be reintroduced to the wild as soon as the time is right, and continue the story of Mpindothela.

Images: courtesy of PDC - wild dog wearing collar; Nyaradzo at the Rehabilitation Centre.