I chose to highlight some of the predators that I saw on my last safari. Of course, there is more to predators than just animals; there are reptiles and birds that also fall under this category, but today I am sticking with the four-legged variety.
Predators are what a lot of people aim to see while on safari, but a game drive is so much more than seeing a glimpse of a lion or leopard. It always bears repeating, that the best game drives are the ones that you go on without a strong agenda, and allow the beauty of Mother Nature to unfold before you, and experience all that is on offer.
A mother leopard and her cub grooming each other. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A lion cub very relaxed in the shade on a very hot afternoon in Savute. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.
A rare sighting of an African wild cat, which is slightly larger than an average house cat. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.
A hyena that approached our vehicle with a pack of wild dogs nearby. At the time we saw this individual, we only had two of the dogs in our sight, but they soon took us to where the rest of the pack was. The hyena didn’t follow. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.
A wild dog relaxing in the shade. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.Some lion cubs playing in the cool of an early morning with one of the mothers watching from the sidelines. This was a small part of the pride that was in the area, and all the youngsters were having fun before it got too hot to do anything but lie under a bush. Savute Game Reserve, Botswana. April, 2024.You can’t ask for much better than a leopard posing on a termite mound. Timbavati Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A young lion in the tall grass, being kissed by the late afternoon light. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.A pair of hyena with an impala ram submerged in a small pond. We were incredibly fortunate to come across this sighting. We were lead to it by seeing a tawny eagle with a piece of very fresh meat, and our guide knew there had to be a very fresh kill nearby. Klaserie Sands Private Game Reserve, South Africa. April, 2024.
If you search my blog, you will find many posts dedicated to wild dogs. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have so many sightings of these amazing animals, and of course, I certainly hope I will get to see more of them in the future (especially wild dogs puppies, as that would be a new one for me).
This past adventure had our guides finding a couple wild dogs, who then lead us to the rest of the pack. Watching their greetings is always so special.
Wild dog in Timbavati, South Africa. April, 2024.Following a pair of wild dogs, who lead us right to the rest of the family.A portion of the rest of the pack; they were too spread apart to get all of them in one shot.
Like elephants (featured in my previous post), wild dogs are a firm favourite to spend time with on safari. I’ve been so fortunate to see wild dogs on the majority of my trips (East Africa in 2016 being the only time I didn’t see them) – which I know is not the experience of most people. My very first guide cautioned me about getting my hopes up to see wild dogs, mentioning that she had talked to clients who had never seen them despite multiple trips, but I have looked at the desire to see things in the wild as a someday request, not something that will make or break a specific trip (and I did end up seeing wild dogs on that first trip, during a day trip in Chobe Park in Botswana).
I spent a few days in Madikwe during my last trip and saw two different wild dogs packs on a couple of different sightings. A morning sighting where the group was active and on the move, and an evening sighting where the pack was quite chill. All of the photos below are from the evening sighting. If you are interested in seeing the other images of wild dogs posted from this trip, you can find them here and here. And you can use the search bar for wild dog posts and find a variety of posts from over the years. I’ve not looked through those archives, but I am guessing they all mention how lucky I am to see wild dogs so frequently.
I selected a few more images from my wild dog sighting this past November to share today. I’d previously posted a few wild dogs images from this trip, which you can find here if you missed them. There are also lots of images in my archives of wild dogs, which can be found with the search function, if desired.
This first image is to show how well camouflaged animals are in the bush, even when the vegetation is not particularly dense. This sighting was at sunset, and we knew the location of the dogs and approached from off road. We weren’t that far off the road, maybe 15 or 20 feet, but had we been on the road and unaware of the dogs location, we likely would have driven right by them.
These dogs were part of same pack and also seen at dusk. These individuals were getting ready to be on the move, and just waiting for the other members to move off. There were five dogs in total in that sighting.
The other sighting I had was mid morning, and quite an adventure to get to. The other people on my vehicle had decided to sleep in, so I was off just with my guide, and we were both happy to see what we could see, and find what we could find. We had a call from another guide that he’d found a pack of dogs, and we ended up traveling off-road over very rocky terrain, up fairly steep hills. These was concern that a wrong turn could damage the vehicle, so it was slow going, but eventually we ended up with the dogs. They were on the move which added challenge to finding them, and they were in dense bush which didn’t provide too many photo opportunities. But even an obscured sighting of wild dogs is an incredible experience.
I’ve never been shy about sharing my love of wild dogs, and it was thrilling to have the chance to spend time with two different packs during my recent trip to South Africa. Today though, I am short on time so I’ve only edited one image, but I’ll be back with more and some info on the sightings in the coming weeks.
I saw a video clip on the Africa Geographic Facebook page a couple of days ago of a sighting of a wild dog pack, including loads of puppies, crossing a road. I’ve never seen wild dog puppies (yet!) but I have been fortunate to have frequent sightings of them. Watching that clip made me want to return to Southern Africa immediately, but since that isn’t feasible, going through my catalogue for the few remaining unedited wild dog photos will have to do.
I had a couple brief sightings of wild dogs last trip, here are a few of the images. More to come later in the week 🙂
Setting off on the hunt.
A shady spot in the riverbed.Such beautiful markings.
Much like elephants, I have posted many, many times about my love of wild dogs. They are amazing animals to spend time with, and the more I learn about them, the more I like them.
I was super fortunate on my last trip to see two different packs at two different camps. The sightings were very different; one had us with them as they awoke from a day of napping and set off on the hunt, and the second had us finding them late morning, getting ready to rest away part of the day in the cooler shade of a dry riverbed.
I look through my images and dream now, more than ever, of having the opportunity to travel back to my favourite places again sometime soon.
I’ve posted lots of other wild dog images in the past. You can find them through a keyword search, or check out one of these posts. Some of these go right back to the very start of this blog 🙂
