Who let the dogs out?

In 2005, AfriCat in Namibia received an urgent call from a government conservation officer, concerning seven wild dog puppies that he had dug out of a hole. The rest of the pack had been poisoned. Some of the pups had already died, but he was able to save a few of them and he needed AfriCat’s urgent help.

Raising these puppies was the hardest project Dave Houghton, an ex-pat Brit and former cameraman turned conservationist, and his partner Carla have ever tackled. Their eyes were still closed and they had no immunity. Sadly 2 puppies died in the first 2 months with a third dying in 2009 from congenital problems.

Kate Humble and Ben Fogle filmed the first few weeks of the pups lives for Animal Park – giving these wild dogs fame from the start! They have always been kept in a large private area preventing all direct contact with humans, paving the way for their release.

These 4 stars, Raine, Ricki, Ruby and the only male, Rex, are now 5 years old.

They were released on 11th September 2010 and this happy day was experienced by all of the guests at Okonjima. The wild dogs made the characteristic barking, yelping noise that is always associated with the painted dog – as they ran around discovering their new environment! By the afternoon they had already chased a family of warthogs – who wisely disappeared into an aardvark hole!

The next morning Dave saw them take down their first kill. It is inspiring to see that their instinct is still intact after so many years in captivity and it is a credit to the AfriCat team that the pack continue to thrive once released.