In 1995, Madikwe Game Reserve in North West province set out to reverse what then seemed inevitable: the extinction of the African wild dog in South Africa. Some biologists doubted the reserve’s efforts would succeed, and initially their gloomy assessment seemed accurate.
The Madikwe wild dog project started with three adult males brought in from the Kruger National Park and three adult females which had been bred in captivity at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre.
The dogs were released into the reserve and soon the six formed a coherent working pack. In June 1996 six puppies were born. They were followed a year later by another 12 pups.
But the good start was almost undone in September 1997 when all the adults and three yearlings died in a rabies outbreak. In a fit of madness, a yearling female killed all 12 puppies and ate three of them. Rangers suspected that jackals in the pack’s home range had transmitted rabies to the pack.
Undeterred by this bleak outcome, the reserve introduced three more adult females, again from De Wildt, and two adult males which had been captured in the Hoedspruit region. A second pack was made up of the two surviving female yearlings from the initial pack and three new males.
Puppies were born to both packs in 1998 and 1999. Despite a second rabies outbreak in 1999, both groups prospered. By April 2001, Madikwe was host to 24 wild dogs.
Today, says Madikwe’s field ecologist, Stephen Dell, there are 33 dogs: 11 in the Tswasa pack and 22 in the Madikwe pack. The park regularly inoculates the dogs against rabies, and Dell monitors both packs most days.
Through this project, Madikwe has set the tone for the relocation of wild dog packs in other reserves. ‘There are now 12 wild dog packs living in various game reserves outside the Kruger National Park, and this is essentially due to the success of the Madikwe project,” Dell says. ‘Madikwe was the first breeding success with wild dogs.”
Among the lessons learnt with the Madikwe project are the control of rabies and preventing the animals breaking out of the reserve: ‘Not even warthogs can get through the fence at Madikwe now.”
Dell is a member of the Wild Dog Advisory Group, which comprises provincial representatives from all parks that have wild dog populations. The group meets regularly to discuss ways of ensuring a future for those animals living outside the Kruger National Park.
‘What we essentially have here is a meta-population strategy,” he explains. ‘Unlike many animals, wild dogs will not mate incestuously. So, in a way, we are involved in genetic manipulation. Once the yearling males are ready to split from the group, we have to relocate them to other parks and packs.”
This ensures the continuation of breeding and new bloodlines. In short, the future of the country’s wild dogs looks brighter, far better than it did just 10 years ago.
For people like farmers who are worried that the wild dogs may become too prolific, there is a natural solution. Wild dogs have a short lifespan – eight years is considered old. Environmental conditions play a key factor in regulating their numbers. In high rainfall periods the bush is thick, which makes hunting more difficult and causes the numbers to decline.
‘In the Kruger National Park, wild dogs can number between 150 and 450 at any given time. This is called ‘boom and bust’,” Dell says. ‘The dogs need to ‘bust’ now and again in this kind of situation, and we can easily reintroduce others once this happens.”
But for now overpopulation at Madikwe is not a problem. Dell says the two packs have adapted so well that they have even created new hunting methods. They have started using the park’s electric fence to trap, stun and kill large antelope such as kudu and gemsbok.
‘The dogs are even putting their dens close to the fence lines – and that is no coincidence,” Dell adds.
Jocelyn Jeurissen was hosted at Jaci’s Safari Lodge during her stay at Madikwe. See www.parksnorthwest.co.za/madikwe or www.madikwe.com