Main Painted Dog project page: Updates from 2010
Archived 2009 updates: March 2009 April 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 November/December 2009
Archived 2008 updates (this page): April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 August 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008
Archived 2007 updates: January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September/October 2007 November 2007 December 2007
Archived 2006 Updates: February 2006 April 2006, May 2006, June 2006, October 2006 November 2006 December 2006
It’s been a while since I sent you all an update and I apologise for that. Its not that we haven’t been busy, quite the opposite in fact and I will try and bring you up to date.
In December 2007 I wrote about the adventures of Jealous and I on Starvation Island, more specifically our misadventures with boats. As promised in that report we did indeed return to Starvation Island in January to check on the dogs. The lake was pretty rough as usual but with the help of Lake Croc we managed to get across to the island and quickly found the dogs, which seemed to be doing quite well. They looked well fed and we concluded that they must have caught something. I was concerned that National Parks had not been to the island for some time and reiterated the need for regular anti poaching patrols to check for snares. With our planned trip to the USA and Europe coming up it was important to make sure that a series of regular inspection visits was in place. In order to facilitate this I deployed ex National Parks Ecologist, Edward Muchuchuti on the island to represent PDC. I felt confident that the dogs would be well monitored during our extended absence.
Back in Hwange the heavy rains were making fieldwork difficult at best and down right miserable most of the time. Jealous was following up on sightings of the dogs and on a number of occasions we were out together hot on their trail only to be thwarted by the heavy rain, which washes the spoor away or flooded roads.
The rain does not stop the other PDC programmes however and the Children’s Bush Camp began its fourth year of operation by welcoming the children and parents from Sianyanga Primary School. Wilton and his team, supported by the irrepressible Foggie are extremely competent and despite a long break over the Christmas holidays, the camp went smoothly. Back in their stride it was quickly followed by visits from Ndangababi, Dingani and Main Camp Schools. The Bush Camp programme is an overwhelming success and we are delighted that the knowledge of the children who have not yet attended the camp is significantly higher than it was four years ago. Indicating that the older children, who have attended the camp in previous years, are clearly imparting the lessons they leant to their younger brothers and sisters.
As February came to a close, Jealous and I embarked on our “World Tour”. So many of you contributed to the success of this trip, welcoming Jealous into your homes and going out of your way to ensure he enjoyed the best possible. He is still talking of course. I was delighted by the way he conducted himself, though expected nothing less of someone who typifies what PDC stands for in terms of commitment, dedication and determination. He is a role model to so many here, who have been eager to hear his stories since he returned. They have laughed at his new waistline and commented that that is how a Zimbabwean should look!!!! I must admit to thinking that most of them seem a little thinner and hungrier, such are the difficulties being experienced right now in Zimbabwe. I am not sure what I will remember most from his trip. His first comment when we left Gatwick airport of “where are all the old cars” or the sight of him catching elephant seals in California or his wonder at seeing so many new animal species while visiting our friends in Holland. Probably I will best remember the warmth of your hospitality.
While we were away Foggie ran the ship, with Wilton, Xmas et al pulling their weight to make sure that PDC does not falter. Of course there are always issues and difficult situations to deal with, which is part of the challenge. We arrived back in Zimbabwe amidst the “election fever”, which has of course turned into a real illness, which we only hope the country will one day recover from.
The dogs in Hwange are still difficult for us to find at the moment and Jealous and I will soon be with the dogs on Starvation Island again, delighted by the reports from Edward, of him seeing them hunting successfully.
Peter Blinston
Edward Muchuchuti spent 18 years at Tashinga, the National Parks base adjacent to Starvation Island, before he retired in 2006. With Jealous and I embarking on our “world tour”, I knew that Edward was the man I wanted to keep an eye on the dogs on Starvation Island, know one knows the area better than he does, so I felt confident that I had left that critical aspect of the project in good hands. He didn’t disappoint me. Visiting the island each week with a couple of National Park scouts to check on the welfare of the dogs, observe their behaviour and check the island for snares that may or may not have been set by local fisherman. Edward kept meticulous notes; a good habit learnt during his years with National Parks making it relatively easy for me to determine what was taking place during our absence.
He phoned me the day Jealous and I got back from our travels, eager to share the news that he had just seen the dogs hunting successfully. We were happy with the progress being made and talked enthusiastically about the forthcoming denning season, which is always our favourite time of the year.
Edwards next phone call, two weeks later, caused me to drop into my chair as if I had been punched in the stomach. Two dogs were missing. He had been on the island as usual, however due to National Parks deployment schedules he had been unable to stay. During the brief visit he had only seen three dogs and was making plans to get back on the island as soon as he could. I stressed the urgency of this and frustrated by the common sense advice to restrict ones own travel during the tense election period, I sat and waited. Edward phoned again four days later. There were only three dogs. Alpha male Ulaka and alpha female Notch, were missing. Edward had seen the three surviving dogs hunting a waterbuck only to lose it to a huge crocodile. The level of the lake was higher than it had been for some years and there were many crocodiles occupying the small bays on Starvation Island. They followed the dogs as they hunted and Edward was convinced that crocodiles had accounted for the missing dogs.
I didn’t doubt him. However I wanted to be sure, so sent Jealous to investigate further, while I drove to Harare and then to Kariba to organise a boat, unconcerned now about the advice against travelling. I discussed the situation with Greg, as I found it hard to believe that crocodiles would catch two of the dogs. However the other scenarios of the two having swum off the island or having denned early did not make sense either.
I met up with Jealous and Edward on the island. Jealous confirmed that there were only three dogs and that the crocodiles were a menace. He smiled as I insisted that we search the island one more time. He has worked with me for many years and knows that I am possessed with the same determination as Greg and won’t give up until I absolutely have to. In temperatures of over 40 degrees, we searched the island for any sign of the missing dogs. There was nothing. We then searched around the island on the boat, listening for the signal from Ulaka’s collar. Still nothing. It was time to report to National Parks so I instructed the boat captain to get us across to Tashinga and asked Jealous to continue to listen out for Ulaka’s collar. Half way across the lake, some 2km from Starvation Island, Jealous picked up the signal !! Though we circled around and around, we failed to detect the signal again. We were mystified. Had Ulaka swum of the island and drowned? Did crocodiles swim so far from the shoreline? Maybe poachers had killed the dogs and thrown the collars in the middle of the lake? So many questions. I needed more help to solve this and so called for a helicopter, knowing that I would definitely pick up the signal from the air. A helicopter is not cheap to hire and we don’t exactly have a budget for such things, however I needed answers.
The helicopter arrived two days later and we flew over the island, increasing the circumference of our search ever more. We flew up and down the mainland, checking the areas that I thought the dogs would end up at if they had swum. We flew over the area where Jealous had picked up the signal two days earlier. Nothing. I instructed the pilot to get us back to the island and as we flew in to land I picked up the signal. We circled the spot, hovering low over the water and only saw crocodiles. We landed and walked down to the bay, which was the same one where Edward had witnessed the crocodiles stealing the dogs kill some weeks before. There was no sign of the crocodiles, presumably scared away by the helicopter. There was no signal either! I got in a small boat and paddled around the bay, searching for the signal from the collar. Jealous can’t swim and doesn’t like the combination of small boats and big crocodiles, thus he stayed on dry land watching as I searched, perched perilously on the bow of the small rowing boat. I could not pick up the signal again and so concluded that the collar must be inside the crocodile, forcing me to accept that Ulaka was dead. The collar on alpha female Notch, had stopped working some time ago and so her fate remains a mystery, though she probably met the same fate as her mate, Ulaka. Being the alpha pair, they had perhaps, unwisely, tried to defend their kill from a crocodile and met what must have been a very violent and unpleasant end.
I now had to turn my attention onto the three survivors and consider if it was wise to leave them on the island. Edward had seen them make a kill, however I again wanted to see for my self that they could cope. Days went by with failed hunts until we finally saw them catch a young waterbuck. The crocodiles were close at hand, however this time the dogs fed well. After they had finished eating I dragged the remains up into the tree line, well away from the waiting crocodiles.
I did not want to remove the dogs from the island. I reasoned that we would not catch the survivors if lions had killed two of the pack and added to this was the likelihood that the female, Arrow, was probably pregnant. Immobilising her would almost certainly kill the unborn pups. So the three survivors remain on the island and we have stepped up the monitoring, with the help of the ever-wiling staff at Tashinga. I have been back to the island again and the three continue to do well, though the lake also continues to rise.
Peter Blinston
June saw Jealous and I making yet another trip to starvation island to check on the welfare of the three remaining dogs. Edward Muchuchuti is still the main representative in the field, however it was time for us to make another trip which for once went without any undue drama. With the support of the National Parks base at Tashinga, we camped on the island for a few days so that we could really assess the performance of the dogs as well as determine if Arrow was pregnant or not. Happily it was clear that the dogs were in good shape. The water level of the lake had risen since the last visit in May, however the dogs seemed to be coping and clearly managing to feed themselves. It was disappointing though to see that Arrow was not showing any sign of being pregnant. Early June is the "normal" denning time for dogs and so she should have looked very pregnant. It is possible that she did not come into season in March, due to the presence of the then alpha female, Notch. Now with Notch out of the equation, Arrow could come into season and have a late litter. Edward remained on the island and will report to me towards the end of the month on this.
Back in Hwange we have been very busy following up on an increased number of sightings. The pack sizes are small, generally the sightings are of only three dogs, however its encouraging to see them filling the void left by the demise of the Umtchibi pack. One pack are certainly denned on the edge of Hwange National Park and we will monitor their progress from a distance until the time is right to move in for a closer look. With this in mind we have been training up "new Jealous" - not that Jealous is going anywhere. It has become clear that he is having to cover so many different areas, it simply makes sense to have other guys trained who can work under his instruction and thus cover the areas that he can't.
With the election fever refusing to diminish, June has been a busy month for the Children's Bush Camp. Aware that schools would once again close early, we pushed through as many classes as we could so that the children we deal with would not miss their lifetime experience of attending our camp. The team led by Wilton worked overtime but with great success and we achieved our goals again. We will now wait to resume the schedule of visits in July before the the schools close again for their annual winter break.
Anti-Poaching work has continued its relentless struggle against the persistent threat that refuses to go away. With the Zimbabwe economy in complete free-fall the official inflation rate is over 150,000% while many say it is over one million percent, the poaching menace will at the very least remain if not increase. Our APU supervisor, Boniface Manda is a professional and continues with his strategic deployment of our two units plus Martin Stiemers All for AP unit. Many arrests were made in June and lobbying of the magistrates continues by many stakeholders in an effort to have the sentences for poaching increased.
We are well aware that simply arresting poachers is not good enough and that the issues driving the poaching need to be addressed. We certainly do our share of this , but the task is enormous. Other organisations are playing their part and we were delighted to play host to an old friend, Barty Pleydell-Bouverie and his colleagues who are undertaking a sponsored cycle ride from Namibia to Kenya. Despite the obvious issues prevailing in Zimbabwe, Barty felt that it was important for his team to visit PDC and illustrate how effective a conservation project can be, through our community based work in particular. Jealous and Manda acted as escorts, meeting up with the cyclists outside Bulawayo and bringing them safely through to PDC. We were honoured by the visit and enjoyed a few good days before seeing the team safely on their way.
July will almost certainly bring new challenges.
Peter Blinston
We made our camp knowing that the lions must have been close by.
We have camped in the bush many, many times but this was different, Jealous had looked at me in disbelief when I told him that we had to camp in the bush. We were on Starvation Island, following up on a report from Edward Muchuchuti that he had seen the spoor (footprints) of at least one lion. The local fishermen confirmed that a male and female lion had been seen on the island.
We were astonished. It is 1.5km in a straight line to the main land. The water in between is quite deep. What had motivated the lions to make such a swim??? We would never know. The fact is they were there.
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) had responded immediately to my request for permission to intervene. A letter authorizing me to dart and thus immobilize the lions then remove them from the island had been issued within minutes. Jealous and I drove to Tashinga and met up with Edward for a meeting with the Warden. He was positive and cooperative as he always is, immediately putting 12 ZPWMA scouts at my disposal.
Fresh lion spoor was all around us as we climbed out of the boat onto the island and carried our kit to the chosen area for our camp. Nervous laughter and a few jokes masked the tension. I prepared my darts.
With the camp quickly established, we set out in an extended line to search the thick bush for the lions. The plan, if you could call it that, was to get me close enough to be able to dart the lions. I would need to be 30 metres from them, on foot. We moved through the bush, following the fresh spoor, the lions were walking all over the island, maybe exploring or perhaps searching for the dogs? On the northeastern side of the island we found very fresh spoor and moved closer together. It was blistering hot and I was sweating hard, though my mouth was dry. Cautiously we moved forward, the bush getting thicker and thicker. A blur of movement to our right sent us all spinning around instantly. We stood motionless, trying to control our breathing. We moved forward again and came out on the other side of the thick bush into the open. No lions.
It was getting dark now so I called of the search. I could not dart the lions at night, it would not have been safe for the lions or us. Exhausted by the search and the tension we slept soundly that night.
Another search of the island the next day revealed little. The ZPWMA scouts suggested we hang some bait in a suitable tree and build a blind for me to sit in and wait for the lions to come. I agreed. A suitable tree was located and the bait was dragged around the island to create a sent trail while the rest of us were busy making the blind and preparing the area, clearing the long grass so that nothing could get in the way of the dart. I was careless and cut my leg while clearing the grass. The deep wound needed stitches but that would have to wait. Jealous joked that my blood would help attract the lions!
With the bait set I took up my place in the blind, which was constructed of leafy branches and grass, camouflaging me from the lions, just 26 metres from the bait. I sat in silence, two ZPWMA scouts sat behind me. I looked around at the construction of leaves and grass and doubted that it would stop a lions charge. I wondered if the nerves of my two scouts would hold out. Darkness fell and we abandoned the blind to trudge wearily back to our camp and the waiting search party. The next morning we checked the bait and found the three dogs sitting underneath it, there was no sign of any lions. Another exhaustive search of the island failed to reveal any presence of the lions and we were convinced that they had swum back to the mainland. The bait was cut down from the tree and the dogs enjoyed a feast.
Peter Blinston
I glanced out of the window as the plane came into land. The sky was filled with ominously dark thunderclouds and the impending storm seemed symbolic of what lay ahead for me. I was back in Zimbabwe after a seasonal fundraising trip to the UK and USA with Greg, meeting many of our old friends and making some new ones. Talk of the global economic crisis was on everyone’s lips. Equally concerned as I was about this situation, I could not help but smile as I thought of the 200 million percent inflation in Zimbabwe and an exchange rate that had gone off the scale as the value of the Zimbabwean dollar continued its free fall into oblivion. Shops and other industries in Zimbabwe had started or were in the process of trading in United States dollars. There were going to be many new challenges ahead to keep PDC moving forward.
Thankfully the news of the dogs was brighter than the foreboding sky. Jealous had been very busy. He was delighted to present me with the news of frequent sightings of 8 packs in our immediate area, confirming our best guesses that the territories that we know of are in fact occupied. The sightings also confirmed something that is causing us more and more concern. The pack sizes are small, below what Greg’s research tells us is a “viable pack size”. The eight packs only total 24 adult dogs, an average pack size of 3. Two of the packs have pups, 3 in one litter and 7 in the other. We are earnestly looking for explanations as to why the pack sizes are small (the average pack size in 1997 / 98 was 6). Jealous is of course hot on their trail or should I say tail!
Before I had left for the UK and USA I had visited Chipangali, a wildlife orphanage near Bulawayo. In 2004 they had agreed to give us 4 out of the 7 painted dogs that they held. We released these 4 onto Starvation Island in 2005 and after a successful six-month stay on the island; we re-captured them and released them onto the mainland. So, my mission was to now get the other 3. Kevin Wilson and his wife, Nicky, run Chipangali. I met with them at the orphanage and soon realised how they were struggling to feed the animals due to the chronic economic environment in Zimbabwe. They operate with the best interest of their animals at the forefront of their minds and happily agreed that I should collect the three dogs on my return from the USA. What I soon realised was that the three I “knew” to be at Chipangali had tragically died and that the three they had were infact the off spring, born in June 2007, of the original ones. In away this was better, as younger dogs are easier to integrate into a pack, which was my aim.
Kevin and his wife could not have been more helpful and the translocation went smoothly. It was our aim to move the dogs without the stress of anesthetising them and this was accomplished with ease. Chipangali was constructed with much thought and it was easy to persuade the dogs to move from their large enclosure into a connecting raceway. It was then just as easy to get them into a large cage, used for transporting cheetah, and from that into our purpose built trailer for the journey to Hwange. Our resident dogs, John and Angela gave them a noisy welcome but all soon settled down and we all ready have them on a fence line with the three males that I hope to introduce them to, making a viable pack of 6, which will be the next candidates for Starvation Island sometime in 2009.
Peter Blinston
I often get asked what it is like to be living in Zimbabwe right now. To be honest, that’s hard to answer without a lot of expletives, however I will try to illustrate some of the points, in a polite way.
To me a perfect example of the difficulties we face is illustrated by our payroll, which for the month of November 2008 was just over 6 quintillion dollars. That’s 6 plus 18 zeros. Actually the true figure / value of the dollar would be 6 plus 21 zeros and I am not sure what that figure is called. The authorities here knocked 13 zeros of the currency to make it more manageable because of most accounting systems failing to cope with so many zeros. I calculated that it would take our lowest paid member of staff over 200 million years to with draw their month’s pay, given the daily cash withdrawal limits currently in place. Hard to get you head around isn’t it !!
Then there is food, or the lack of it. So I now spend time in Harare sourcing basic commodities for our staff from suppliers who import from South Africa. Staff now get paid with a “food pack” in addition to their zeros. My Assistant Manager, Forggie, completes the food pack and the stocks for our Children’s Bush Camp and APU by spending on average 8 days a month in Botswana shopping. She voluntarily sleeps in the back of the landrover during these trips to save money We have been importing fuel and vehicle spares for several years already and we are now resigned to importing just about everything. The phone systems are chronic, thus exacerbating the situation and increasing the time spend trying to source or order anything.
I suppose we could be forgiven for taking our “eye of the ball” under the circumstances, however we don’t. Anyone who visits PDC will witness for themselves the absolute dedication and tireless work of our staff. It’s a humbling experience. Most if not all of our staff are their families’ breadwinner, extended families, not just their own immediate families. The pressure on them is huge, on a daily basis we hear of someone who has died of starvation. As breadwinners they often go without food themselves so that their family members can eat.
Jealous of course is a perfect example and role model. He is the head of his family, his father died recently of TB, which went untreated, as there was no treatment available at any of the neighbouring hospitals. He is the primary breadwinner and apart from his own immediate family of 4, he has responsibility towards another 12 or so people. Happily his new grinding mill is now operational, which will help him financially, however regardless of that he works tirelessly tracking the dogs for us, with a broad smile never far from his face.
The dog news remains encouraging, in terms of the territories that we know of, being occupied by dogs. As reported last month however, these packs are small, which in itself is cause for concern. We have been out early every morning searching for these elusive packs and a recent opportunity for darting and collaring one of the packs was frustrated by, of all things, tourists. Frustratingly, some of the few tourists that visit Hwange NP these days happened to drive by at the ideal darting moment and scared the dogs away into the bush !!! Sightings of the various packs continue to come in, so it is just a matter of time before we get another opportunity. We are anxious to deploy our two GPS collars, which will hopefully give us even greater information regarding the packs movement. Our recent arrivals from Chipangali are doing very well and the process of integrating them with the other dogs we have is going well.
Peter Blinston
It’s raining in Zimbabwe. Quite literally and the life giving water has brought a fresh flush of green to the desperately dry bush. There is new life everywhere. Impala fawns are amusing to watch as they race along behind a “babysitter” intent on learning to run as quickly as they can. Newborn jackal pups play happily and the young warthogs race by with antenna like tails held high. Outside my house a little beater has two eggs in a nest, so I am eagerly awaiting the birth of these chicks.
It’s raining in my heart. This should be a time of plenty, when people plough
their fields and plant their maize seed in preparation for the year ahead. The
rainy season can be the difference between life and death for many. Good rains
and a good harvest means life, poor rains and a poor harvest can mean death,
especially in Zimbabwe today. I visited Jealous at his new grinding mill to
bring him his wages during his much-deserved time off. He has ploughed his field
and planted the maize seed that PDC purchased for him and its entire staff.
However he informed me that he is one of only a handful from his village that
have done this. Most do not have seeds and many are too weak to plough even if
they did have the seeds.
For PDC there are so many similes that can be used. For me, I see it as if we
are standing on the edge of a gorge, peering into the depths below. Its not as
if we are going to fall in, over my dead body will that happen. Its as if we
have to work our way along the edge of the gorge until we can find our way
across. We must get across. We have come so far with the support of so many of
you. We have achieved so much together during a period of incredible complexity
and difficulty, delivering a world-class conservation programme. The emphasis
for the coming year is to make sure we can keep this programme on track. With
your continued support I have no doubt that we will achieve this.
I talked to Morgan two days before he died about his continued employment with us. Not because I didn’t want him anymore, far from it, but because he was past retirement age and I wondered if he was now at the point where he thought he had done enough and wanted to go home. He would hear nothing of the sort. He talked of his desire to finish what he had started, of how Greg and I have demonstrated that same determination time and time again to finish what we start, not to let people down. I smiled at him and told him that he has never let us down.
In recent days so many of you have responded in a similar fashion, recognising that even by Zimbabwean standards, we are experiencing particularly difficult times. Jon Vannini’s constant encouragement and Charlie Knowles’ email of committed support and wise council. Mel Shepherds heart felt concerns and determination of committed support. Water bottles that filter out cholera bacteria being dispatched without hesitation. A phone call from Chris Hennessy pledging emergency funding, all I have to do is ask. Tusk Trust and Barty’s aptly titled “Cycle of Life” bringing us unexpected and timely funding. These are just a few examples, really there are too many to mention. It’s that kind of commitment that drives us on, it’s the oxygen, if you like, that keeps us going.
The dogs have the same determination. I learnt that lesson very early on when I witnessed the exploits of Eyespot, who famously kept his brothers pups alive, hunting alone to feed them and their mother after poachers had torn the heart out of the pack. A recent sighting of 14 dogs just down the road from us was received with huge smiles. The other packs in the region, though small in terms of individual pack members, are hanging on and our work at the rehab with our waifs and strays continues to go well.
2009 promises to bring so many more challenges our way, however we are as determined as ever and quietly optimistic because of your support.
Painted Dog Conservation - year end report 2008
Peter Blinston
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