22 January 2024

Is Gorongosa really a Hot Spot for Wild Dogs?

Hi there,

I recently read in a trip report (on a different forum / community) that Gorongosa NP allegedly is home to appr. 20 different wild dog packs.

To be honest, I find that hard to believe: Kruger NP in ZA is five times the size of Gorongosa and also has about 20 packs. Nevertheless, I’d like to hear from folks here on TA, ideally from people who have recently visited Gorongosa.

thanks

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Klaus B
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1 Comment

  • 22 January 2024
    Pictus Safaris

    Hi Klaus,

    I know we’ve corresponded elsewhere, but others may be interested, so I’ll post here too. There are currently 11 packs of dogs in Gorongosa, including dispersals. I don’t have the latest total numbers of dogs in the park, but including pups it will be between 150 and 200. Between 2017 and 2020, the population grew from 0 to 100 despite the loss of some early litters, aided by relatively low lion densities and a ridiculous abundance of prey. I expect the population will begin to level off as the dogs begin to make a dent in the waterbuck population, and now that spotted hyena have been introduced, but there is no doubt that the density of dogs in GNP is impressive and much greater than in the Greater Kruger. It is worth noting that only a small portion of GNP has a road network, and so most packs are rarely accessible – the most common pack around the road network is the Beira pack. But, regardless, your chances of visiting GNP for a week and not seeing dogs are slim.

    Tom

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