Page 21 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #11
P. 21
PAINTED WOLVES
Clockwise from 300 to one; a young
left: two painted puppy finds its
wolves are speed in the bush;
overshadowed Tyron Hurst, head
by some of Hwange’s guide at Hwange’s
elephants. The Nehimba Lodge,
pachyderms leads guests
outnumber the through prime
canines by almost wolf country.
poachers’ snares, rabies caught from village female called Tait for this autumn’s landmark “Painted wolves are correctly referred to
dogs and collisions with traffic. While wolves series Dynasties. “The filming gave us a huge as dogs,” Nick says, “but they split from the
are no longer targeted, they’re susceptible to opportunity to learn more about painted wolf evolutionary branch from which all other
snares because they cover so much ground behaviour,” says Nick. “Not only that, but we’ve dogs descended about three million years ago.
and favour the bush preferred by poachers. also recorded this information for posterity.” They lack the dewclaw and their dentition is
“Their numbers have dwindled to fewer different from other dogs.”
than 5,000 in all Africa,” says zoologist Nick The wild bunch While researchers are now closer to
Murray, who has been collecting data on Formerly known as Cape hunting dogs or understanding the lives of painted wolves,
painted wolves in Hwange and Mana Pools African wild dogs, the canines have recently countless misconceptions still surround
National Park since 2005. “Hwange has been blessed with a more fittingly romantic these elusive predators. I was determined to
about 16 packs, with an average of around 10 name: painted wolves. This does justice to get to the crux of some of these myths so, as
wolves in each, while Mana Pools supports their beautiful daubed markings, unique to I travelled from camp to camp, I picked the
about 110 wolves in an area that’s only individuals. Perhaps if they’d always been brains of Hwange’s most experienced rangers
and guides. As if I was following the most
one-sixth the size of Hwange.” Nick recalls
known by this infinitely more attractive name,
Head guide: Mark Eveleigh seeing a pack of 34 wolves at Mana Pools. human attitudes towards them might have well-defined tracks, their tales seemed to bring
been less embittered. For years it was almost
It is this incredible density of painted
me closer to the wolves with every passing day.
wolves that brought a BBC camera crew to
“It’s a good time to be in Hwange,” Tyron
universally assumed that painted wolves were
Nick’s base at Vundu Camp, spending the
domestic dogs gone feral, but they’re the sole
Hurst, head guide at Nehimba Lodge, had
best part of two years filming a pack led by a
BBC Wildlife
November 2018 surviving member of the genus Lycaon. reassured me the day I arrived at the park 21
