Mma Moriri with males

Back to Cat and Dogs: October 2018, we heard wild dogs’ ‘hoo calling’ throughout the night around camp. Checking the VHF radio collar signals, we confirmed it was Apoka pack. But why all the commotion? Perhaps the group of 3 dispersers were having an interaction with the pack, the females trying to draw the males away? Early the next morning we went to locate Apoka to see what was happening. But on our way out first thing, we came across a different story. One lone wild dog, injured but alive, lying next to Backyard pan (not 1km from camp) surrounded by lion tracks. The dog was a female, and not from Apoka pack. An assessment revealed injuries typical of a lion attack. She had puncture wounds on the top of her head, her jaw, her neck, her chest, her shoulder, her thigh. Her lower back had been mauled. Her spine appeared to be broken. She could not stand. Dazed, she only let out deep breathes as we stood a few meters away. It general management policy in Botswana not to intervene when nature takes its course. This was difficult and became even more heart-breaking when we identified the fatally injured dog as Suzuka.

So what happened? From the commotion the night before and the story described in the footprints of both lions and dogs, and the presence of the Apoka pack last night as well, we can make an interpretation and guess at the events. It seems the two sets of dogs were indeed having an interaction, a rare occurrence in our records. Such interactions can be chaotic and frequently are aggressive and full of risk for the dogs. In the middle of this nocturnal conflict, it seems Suzuka and the other dogs with her were traveling on a narrow game trail, and were ambushed by lions from a short distance away. One lion turned 90 degrees and went straight for the narrow game trail with the dogs and ambushed Suzuka. One set of dog tracks ended at Suzuka’s injured body,the others scattered. The lion tracks continued east. At the end of the lion tracks a few kilometres away sat Female 5, uninjured, unfazed, as if nothing had happened and within a few hours Suzuka was dead where she lay. The next morning, only a bone fragment remained in a confusion of spotted hyaena tracks.