Botswana & Zambia 2015

The major draw for us at Lebala and Lagoon is wild dogs. We love, admire, and totally appreciate these highly intelligent, highly social, and highly skilled animals. David and I didn't know very much about wild dogs until our first visit to Africa in 2006. Just the two of us left our small group at Lebala in order to spend an extra day at Lagoon Camp because we'd heard wild dogs were denning. Our timing was impeccable.... there were only 4 adults in this new pack, including the alpha pair. The alpha female had given birth to her first litter of 9 pups and 2 days before our arrival, she brought them out of the den for the first time. The pack grew big and strong over the next several years. David and I visited them when they were at their apex in 2010, but by 2011 the alpha pair was getting old. David didn't make the trip that year, but I did. The alpha female had selected a poor spot for her den which meant the rest of the pack had to work very hard to keep everyone safe and fed. The alpha female died in 2012. The alpha male tried to keep up, but one day he went missing. The pack spent 2 days searching for him and finally located him, but he was weak. He went out on one more hunt, but never returned. This threw the pack into chaos. Over the next year, they tried hard to sort out their hierarchy.

In 2014, 3 females gave birth to 17 pups. Experts will tell you this can't happen, but David, Janice and I saw it with our own eyes. The pups were different sizes and different ages and the pack was in disarray. One female had asserted herself and took responsibility for all the pups, but discipline was absent. By the time we arrived, 13 pups remained. The smallest (by a wide margin) was Thirteen. No one gave him much of a chance. But what a difference a year can make! That's Thirteen in the photos above.... in August, 2014, and in June, 2015. He's still the smallest, but he's definitely a survivor. Turns out, 11 of the 13 pups made it to 2015.

Thirteenthenandnow