Well, THAT Was WILD — Zambia

Why aren’t all birds like Margaret’s Batis? We showed up to a forest patch thick with vine tangles and dense undergrowth. We thought the area looked good so we hopped out of the car and quickly had two birds singing their hearts out. It’s enjoyable when birds come easy like this… but those hard ones, where 5 days of searching results in poor fly-by views, are what make these ones all the more worthwhile. A Perrin’s Bushshrike, one of the most attractive birds I’d seen in a long time, also came easily. Actually, every bird we searched for was essentially effortless. Birding patches of miombo in Zambia can be a very pleasurable experience.

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After finding the batis we headed south through Kafue National Park to find Zambia’s near endemic Black-faced Lovebird (which we found easily), but who cares about that, lets talk about something waaaay more exciting: WILD DOGS.

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One of the animals Ross and I wanted to see more than just about any other is the beautifully patterned African Wild Dog. Their name came up any time we were in an area we could potentially see them and we’ve had countless conversations about when the day would finally come that we could connect with this animal. We searched for them years ago in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, made a special run after we learned about a recent dog sighting in Tanzania’s Tsavo West National Park, and basically looked anywhere we could on this trip but all with no success. Wild Dogs can be hard to come by it seems!
But then, as we were driving down the main road into Kafue National Park in South Central Zambia, completely unaware of what was about to happen, there they were standing in the golden sunlight on the side of the road. I think a lot of Wild Dog sightings are like that. Unexpected. Exciting. It was early morning and a pack of six Wild Dogs were just standing there. Ross immediately reaches for his camera before I can fully register what I am seeing. He snaps off a few photos and we watch them along the road before they walk off into the grass.

Let me tell you, these are some beautiful creatures. The intricate patterns, white-tipped tails, big, round ears. We tried to follow alongside as best we could, but we were confined to the road while the dogs had so much more ground at their disposal. We were on a main road, not inside of a park with multiple side trails! Eventually we lost sight of them and opted to turn around in hopes they might have circled back. There they were standing on the main road again! We watched from afar as the dogs trotted back through the grass. But then a young Reed Buck was kicked out from his hiding spot in the weeds. I actually could see the fear in this antelope’s eyes as he ran away from the predators and directly towards our truck. The dogs followed. The chase was on! We quickly turned around again and watched as our roadside sighting turned into a full-blown hunt and we had a front row seat for the action. Wild Dogs are extremely efficient hunters and work together seamlessly to take down their prey. They have an 80% success rate of making a kill, better than any of the other top African predators. (To put that in perspective, Lions only have a 30% success rate.)

The Reed Buck was swiftly taken down but I don’t think he died as fast as he would have liked. Wild Dogs don’t have a way to swiftly kill their prey so they simply grab on to the legs and don’t let go. They might also start eating before the animal has fully died. Typically the prey dies from shock or blood loss. Either way, breakfast was served right next to the road and the dogs would be eating good! For the next hour we watched as each member of the party ate to their hearts’ content. It didn’t take long before each piece was fully consumed. Wild Dogs are known to eat quickly because they could easily lose their kill to Lions or Hyenas who might want to steal it. Nothing goes to waste out here in the bush and when the dogs were finished the vultures moved in.

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Not only did we get to see Wild Dogs, we got to watch a kill take place. I’ve spent a lot of time out in the wilderness and have never seen anything quite like this. This is a rare occurrence and for it to happen where we had access to superb views made it even better. This is the kind of thing only the very lucky or the very dedicated get to see. And let me just say, it was WILD.