It started mid afternoon after my arrival from Vryburg but fulfilled my most unlikely dreams.

African Wild Dogs

We started out at 4:30 to check on the wild dogs and their status. They are monitored daily to see if they have eaten (and what they ate if we can the GPS provided some insight).

We know where the dogs are because one is collared with a GPS tag that provides coordinates. Without this, it is impossible. Since wild dogs do not ambush, they don’t care about hiding their scent so when you find a track or evidence of their presence, you can’t use the wind to guess where they might have gone. Their movements are unpredicatble and twisty, unlike a lion which can travel stealthily in a straight line downwind so their scent is not picked by its prey.

They are curious but not afraid; although when we reached a certain distance (or lack thereof) they moved to the next shade patch. Their eyes reflect their intelligence. They study and consider; you can see them gauging. Stunning in beauty, it pains me that they do not have public’s appreciation like a lion. I mention children’s books and media. These animals are not reperesented as a character; or if they are they are a bad one (although in my limited exposure to child anything, I think it is hyenas they get the bad rep even more often). A common issue also is that people don’t realize these are African wild animals. I was guilty of this myself. Originally they were African wolves and there is an effort to return to that name, as people think that wild dogs are simply street dogs that strayed to the wild. I was confused by this myself so totally get it. In reality, this species predates the American Grey Wolf.

Once they are found, a log entry is recorded indicating their level of fullness (which indicates when they last ate) and condition. We would love to know WHAT they ate to measure the predator and prey eco balance in our wildlife and the ecologist can determine actions but this is problematic. Unfortunately the collars frequently don’t work and only provide a reading every 6 hours when we’re lucky, so if the animals stop for a few hours (which would indicate a potential feeding) it is near impossible to get the kill location to see what can be found.

More on these complex, amazing animals and their social structures can be found here.

Pangolin

I was already amazed at my day, but after accessing the threat of rain we headed out again to replace a low battery on a pangolin‘s tag. When Gary told me of the opportunity, I was both excited and shocked. People can live their entire lives here and never see one of these elusive, shy creatures. This is very true of this particular species, the https://pangolinsg.org/portfolio/temmincks-pangolin/or giant ground pangolin. as some other species can be easier to locate (and thus poach) I have dreamed of seeing a pangolin, any pangolin, in person but never really thought I would. The odds are just so against it. Yet here we were.

Our girl (we think it is a female) is tagged (currently five are tagged, two wild, including her, and three that have been rehabiliated and released to us). What is interesting is that she has started traveling farther than ever before and in a very specific direction. This sudden change occurred a few weeks ago and no one knows why. The fact is, we know so little of these animals. We don’t know how they communicate or even how long they live. Among the 5 being monitored it has been observed that each leaves their burrows around the same time in the evening; when one goes out, usually the others who will forage will leave within 20 minutes. Again, we don’t have any idea why. It reminded me when I worked at a convenience store duriong the night. There could be a few hours where not a soul would appear and then multiple customers arrive out of nowhere all at once.

Tonight is different one goes out and immediately goes back in. Then a female with a pup goes out, which makes sense she needs the calories. We don’t know but think it is the heat of the day, or perhaps the unusual humidity and pressure we are experiencing. Perhaps this affects the ants and the pangolins know not to bother.

Meanwhile, our special actor has still not stirred so we give up. However before we get too far we get a call she has left the burrow and turn around. We really want to get the battery replaced as they are impossible to find if they are not tagged and we don’t want to lose her. Every data point is crucial in a species so little is known about.

She has not gone far enough from the burrow on our return and we go back to waiting. Pangolins consider their burrow a safe space and we don’t want to change that, so she needs to place at least 70-80 meters between herself and home.

When she moves, we leap into action, using the antenna to pinpoint her location. Suddenly she is there, and Gary is smoothly, efficiently retrieving the little device in its holder on her back to replace the batteries, while I shine the torch around to look out for predators. She is a wild pangolin, and her defense is to freeze, so she does not move, but she in a large ant mound and they are biting her, really going after her. She jerks her head in pain but will not move because we are there. She is so under attack she curls up for a moment and makes a small chittering sound, which Gary is not sure how they make as they have no vocal chords. This action is not in response to us as we are not touching her. We still do not want to pick her up as that would cause her to leave the area and the burrow and not what we want.

The amazing thing is the minute we finished, she got up and began to walk away. That precious little hind leg walk made my heart melt all over again.

I am in wonder and awe at being in her presence. She is a tough girl. She won’t take no for an answer. I wish there is some way to figure out why she keeps heading in the exact direction: northwest. She may divert for a bit but always goes back to it. Meanwhile, all the others may change burrows at times but the distances and trajectory are completely different from hers. They may travel 500 meter in two directions from base but she is traveling much farther and clearly with some target in mind. What is driving her? Something is. All we can do is record the data and compare what we know to possibly derive some theories.

Coda

We had a late dinner and retired to our abodes. I got a bit lost and wandered to my tent as owls sprang to the sky, huge and beautiful. They are Western barn owls with a similar sound to our American ones, but a different vocal patten, like a dialect. But the day was not quite over.

I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of so many birds and I was siffused with gratitude and wonder that I am really here. That I made this dream happen. And there are no words.