The newest pack of African Wild Dogs was recently released into the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) jointly facilitated by Wildlife ACT and the Endangered Wildlife Trust and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.

The pack comprises of four males – originally brought into HiP from Tswalu Kalahari Reserve at the end of 2020 – and two females originally from Hip.

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The males and females originate from opposite ends of the vast park and may never have come into contact. The capture and bonding of the dogs was crucial for the formation of this new pack.

Initially, the males and females lived in two adjacent compartments of a predator holding facility, commonly referred to as a boma, in the Hluhluwe section of the park.

This passive bonding method allowed the dogs to get to know each other through the separating fence.

Once the monitoring team were comfortable with the interactions, a decision was made to dart all the individuals and use the Steve Dell method of rubbing the individuals on one another.

The introduction proved successful and formed a cohesive and tightly bonded pack prior to release.

All six members of the pack are fitted with tracking collars to enable daily monitoring of their movements, behavioural dynamics, ecological influences, disease, snaring incidents and any other human-wildlife conflict issues.