The Bloemfontein Zoo is boasting one of only a few litters of African wild dogs ever born in captivity, after six were recently born.
Curator Sarel van der Merwe said the six young ones were spotted only recently in the cage where a single pair of adults was being kept.
Wild dogs do not breed easily in zoos, especially if they are kept in single pairs. The pair, which had been together for about a year, must have been a perfect match, Van der Merwe said.
He said zoo staff noticed signs of the bitch’s pregnancy around five weeks ago. However, she hid the pups for two to three weeks in a hole in the ground before they first ventured outdoors.
The parents had dug the hole themselves next to a fallen tree stump in their cage, van der Merwe said. This was different from their natural behaviour, where wild dog pairs usually used existing holes dug by other animals to rear pups.
The new family was being left to themselves, and zoo staff was keeping out of the cage to prevent unnecessary stress to the animals. All the animals were said to be healthy.
It was the first time that wild dogs were born at the Bloemfontein Zoo since its establishment in 1906, van der Merwe said.
Like their parents, the pups would also be micro-chipped and registered as part of the official African wild dog studbook.
Wild dogs are the second most endangered carnivore species in Africa. – Sapa