International Lifestyle Magazine Issue 50 | Page 30

The founder population of LimpopoLipadi’s dogs came from 9 orphaned pups found near the cattle farms of Ghanzi, Botswana. In keeping with our philosophy of reintroducing endangered species and restoring natural biodiversity to our part of the Tuli Block, we had to step in when we heard about their plight in 2008. Until this point previous attempts to reintroduce captive-reared animals to the wild had largely failed due to problems with their ability to hunt – how would they fare? To begin with the pups were housed in a small area within our quarantine boma. Here they were monitored and fed until it was time to release them into the larger 4 hectare enclosure. Great care was taken throughout to ensure the dogs did not see humans feeding them – this could cause problems in the future if they came to associate humans with a source of food. Screening and an elaborate pulley system were used to hide the arrival of meat – although we were concerned that they may start to believe that food regularly just fell from the sky! During a routine vaccination session in 2009 the alpha female sadly died whilst under anaesthetic. A struggle for dominance then arose in the pack with a dog known as “Two Spots” emerging victorious – she would be the new alpha female. Despite the work on feeding, in order to be able to release the dogs back into the wild we needed to find some genetically unrelated wild adult dogs to bond with ours who would help them develop their hunting skills. Months went by filled with

work locating sightings of suitable dogs, applying for permits, and attempting game captures, but to no avail. Then in early 2010 Venetia Limpopo N