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Nick Tennick

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Nick has always loved the outdoors and never turns down an opportunity for an adventure. After finishing high school in Johannesburg, where he grew up, Nick spent a gap year in the Zimbabwean bushveld which truly sparked his love for wildlife and conservation ...

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29 Comments

on Adoption in The Wild

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Thanks for the insight, and, update. Very exciting to see the adventures of this pack. Please keep us updated. What’s happening to the pack of 3. Has the male recovered?

Hey Joe, It has been a very facisnating journey for these painted dogs. The injured male from the pack of three has recovered well but sadly the female was killed by the Toulon Pack.

This has been fascinating to follow. Is there any update on the pack of 3? I’m curious if the injured male has recovered.

Master Tracker

I want to ask the same question

Hi Chelsea and Ian, The injured male has recovered from his injury to his leg however the mother was killed by the Toulon Pack over a month ago.

Hi Nick, it is so interesting to read about this “adoption” behavior. Learnt something new indeed. thank you!
-Mingshu Bates

Hi Mingshu! Thanks for the comment and I’m thrilled you have found this story so interesting. It sure has left us all astonished.

Hmm… I don’t see either of the pack with a superb genepool. The pack of three is a mystery (why just three members and three pups)? The pack of 7 has the matriarch unfertile. So the other females can’t breed anyway… well, I am very sorry for the pack of three that lost their pups. They will surely benefit the pack of seven. Among predators is it well known among lionesses, especially infertile ones or some that lost her cubs. Have you seen the story of Kamunyak, that adopted 7 antelope calves before disappearing herself? Of course this was a desperate choice, but not uncommon- the prey becomes a substitute of the cubs. An extreme adoption among big cat was observed in India. A male adult tiger, a very dominant and aggressive male, adopted two tiger cubs and brought them to independence. Their mother was dead, so they were able to survive without milk but not without food and protection. Anong herbivores species adoption is quite common, see elephants and more…

Senior Digital Ranger

I’d like to know how was the original mom of these three pups after her pups were taken? Also would they ever try to steal them back down the road? Is the injured dog going to be ok

Hi Tammy, Yes the mother along with the two males of the pack of three tried on several occasion to try and get their pups back over a course of a month after the adoption took place to no avail. It will be interesting to see what happens if they were to cross paths down the road. The injured dog has recovered.

Senior Digital Ranger

Thank you for your response. I’m heartbroken over the female dog and the future of these 2 males. Wildlife is very sad for me

Many thanks for this fascinating update, Nick. I’ve read the previous articles regarding these events and hope there will be more in the future. The photography here is superb too. ♥️Wild dogs!

Thanks for the comment Jennifer.

The whole story of the adoption of these pups is indeed fascinating! Now that the Toulon pack has moved on, what has happened to the biological parents, the pack of three?

Hi Mary Beth, The pack of three have had a tough time. While the injured male has recovered from his leg injury, the Alpha female was cornered and killed by the Toulon Pack about a month ago.

Love this story. Tho wondering what’s become of the original pack of 3. They are such great looking animals.

Hi Anita, The Pack of three have been through a tough spell having lost the alpha female She was killed by the Toulon pack.

Hi Nick, this is truly a fascinating story of the painted dogs stealing the 3 pups and then raising them as their own. There are so many good points in doing that, as the one male of was injured which left one male to look for food for all. Let’s hope all three pups survive and grow up being strong and vigilant with the Toulan Pack. May the pack of 3 where the injured male is in, recover and mate again and have a new litter of pups.

Great recap and summary, thank you.

I have followed this story with interest and even contacted our local zoo with the story since the zoo has a pack of painted dogs from Botswana. I took wonderful photos of the pack of three when they still had the pups. Has the injured male recovered and did the biological mother of the three pups survive?

Hi, Unfortunately, the mother of the three pups was killed by the Toulon Pack just over a month ago. The two males are still alive at this stage and will have to try and join a bigger pack.

Thanks David

Nick- beautiful story and pictures of these amazing animals. Can you explain the one dog that is wearing a collar? More info on why and how this was done would be helpful!

Hey Michael, thanks for the comment. For research purposes, San parks use a collar to track the movements of certain individual within a pack. Sometimes the Alpha male or female will be collard as they are the stronghold of a certain group but it can also be a random member. Then there are wild life experts, particularly in Wild Dog research who have access and monitor the movements and behaviour of the different packs in the Kruger National Park.
The collar would have been attached to the wild dog through a darting procedure conducted by a wildlife vet.

This has been such an interesting story so far but it seems there are still a couple of questions. Did the pack of three leave the area intact as the one male was rather badly injured and have the Toulons headed off to places unknown with their “kidnapped/adopted” pups? You all probably can’t answer or we’d see the follow-up, but it would be closure to the story. Great photos by the way Nick!

Hi Denise, The latest update had been well documented in a blog by Sean Zeederberg but in short, the male with the injured leg is still alive and has recovered well. The Toulon pack has been seen South of the Londolozi boundary with 10 members which is a good sign that the pups are doing well.
Sadly, the Alpha female of the pack of three was killed by the Toulon pack.

Great photos of the dogs, Nick.
This adoption of the pups is such a special and rare thing and so exciting for everyone who has been able to watch these dogs. I hope, as you said, that the young ones will survive and become grown members of their adoption pack.

Thanks for the comment Christa. This has honestly been a one of a kind story and I hope to provide some interesting updates about the adopted pups and the Toulon pack in the future.

Master Tracker

Thank you , strange story , we can hope all turns out well for the adoptees and the two packs

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