Ewaso Lions

Category: Other news | Date: Oct 26 2009 | By: ewasolions

I am sooo excited to report that I have had 2 very special sightings of wild dogs recently! (My first proper sighting of them was in February this year in Samburu Reserve).

The first sighting was on the 9th of September and was about 10 minutes away from camp in the Conservation Area in West Gate Community Conservancy.  The second sighting was on the 13th of October and it was so close to camp!  In September we saw a pack of 7 dogs and in October we saw only 2 dogs, however later on a pack of 12 were reported nearby at the Sasaab lodge.

The wild dogs looked in great shape and sent the guinea-fowl and dikdiks into a frenzy.  I always enjoy seeing them - it is so rare to see the endangered wild dogs and considering they are not really resident in the area, I feel extremely fortunate to have seen them.

Wild dogs on the 9th of September

Pack of 7 move in the Conservation Area

One of the wild dogs seen on the 13th of October with Mt Kenya in the background

Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of this, but on the 4th of September, I was driving at night in Sasaab and at around 8:00 pm, I literally bumped into an aardvark!  This is my first time to see one and funnily enough it was only a few days before that I had mentioned that the one animal I would love to see is an aardvark.  This one walked across the road slowly and gave us a great showing.  It really is the coolest creature to see!  The Samburu people believe that it is very good luck to see an aardvark.  I was thrilled!

Tags: Aardvark, Conservation, Endangered, Samburu, Sasaab, West Gate Community Conservancy, Wild dogs

2 responses so far

Category: Reserves | Date: Feb 25 2009 | By: ewasolions

I am super excited to report that I saw wild dogs on the 21st of February in Samburu National Reserve!  This was the 4th time I have seen wild dogs, but by far this was the best sighting I have had.  Prior to this, I have only seen them at night and dashing across the road.  This time, I was able to have a good look at them and watch them cross the road behind me chasing dikdiks.  There were 7 dogs in total and a few of them were youngish pups.

Wild dogs are endangered and numbers have fallen to only a few thousand in Africa, mainly due to habitat loss and hunting.  Here, the wild dogs use the area to move between Laikipia and Samburu Districts, but it now appears they may be resident somewhere in the area; between the reserve and West Gate Community Conservancy. On the 19th of February, they were in West Gate and I saw them a few days later in Samburu Reserve.

With only a few hundred wild dogs remaining in the Samburu-Laikipia ecosystem (their numbers are increasing), I feel totally privileged to have seen a few of them.

Below are a few photos of some of the dogs that I saw. 

Tags: Endangered, Laikipia, Samburu, Samburu National Reserve, West Gate Community Conservancy, Wild dogs

8 responses so far