Wild dog with snare

Recently a young wild dog male was identified with a wire snare injury to the neck. It was decided to give it a day or two to see if the dog would manage to dislodge the snare by itself, and that we would monitor the situation on a daily base, but some days later it was clear that the snare had only cut deeper and that the dog was in a lot of discomfort. Dr Comfort Nkgowe (Head Veterinary Surgeon–DWNP) was asked to assist in the removal of the snare, and he came over to the Reserve to do the intervention.

The APU (Anti-Poaching Unit) located the injured dog early morning, but due to thick bush conditions we were unable to dart. A game of cat and mouse ensued that took most of the day, but by 15:00pm the dog finally offered an opportunity that was well taken by the good doctor. Due to the poor condition of the animal Dr Nkgowe gave it a very light dose, which meant it took a while for the dog to succumb to the tranquiliser. However, 15 minutes after the dart went in, the dog was in dreamland, and we could approach it to remove the snare.

We removed the snare easily, cleaned the wound, gave the dog antibiotics. We were relieved to see that nothing vital had been compromised. It was decided to keep the dog in the kennels at the APU for a couple of days to observe its recovery, and whilst still under sedation we transported it to the boma, made it comfortable and woke it up. With a juicy impala leg for company, it was quite content for the first evening. By the following day it seemed as fit as a fiddle, and it was constantly calling out for the pack. The sorrowful whooping went on into the night, until at some point the dog identified a weak spot in the cladding of our kennel.

So, it decided that it had enough of our hospitality and discharged itself from our care. The APU tracked it to the pack the following morning, where it had rejoined the pack without too much raucous. Since then, it has been seen on several occasions and every sighting indicates that it is recovering very well. A big relief that one of our emblematic and highly endangered wild dogs has made a speedy and full recovery!