The Siyavikela pack has surprised us all again! We can excitingly announce that the Alpha female had another litter! This is the second litter in one year. This time she has 8 pups. Her first litter this year was born end of May and 3 of the 6 pups survived and grew big and strong in the last months.
Wild dogs usually breed seasonally, producing pups between the months of April and September, so we were surprised when we saw the little pups at the end of November. We were able to capture a few extraordinary photos on a non-invasive camera trap that we set up at the den site. Wild Dogs are escape artists and the pack moved to a neighbouring reserve, Thanda Royal Game Reserve. Soon after the move the alpha female started denning. The Siyavikela pack remain in a safe area during the denning phase and Manyoni will look at plans to bring the pack back onto our reserve once the pups are old enough.
@Wildlife Act is monitoring the pack closely to make sure they are all doing well and are safe. Big thanks to Thanda Game Reserve and their team for accommodating the wild dogs and the monitoring of the pack!