![hyenas vs wild dogs hyenas vs wild dogs](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/blZCNoQRx8Q/maxresdefault.jpg)
The research community at the time were baffled and a hypothesis was proposed by Roger Burrows that implemented researchers handling of the dogs as being causal to their decline, the theory being that the stress imparted to the animals made them susceptible to rabies which eventually killed them. Here in lays the mystery, what killed them?Īt the time the rapid disappearance of the wild dogs coincided with a renewed period of research that saw individuals from several packs immobilised and fitted with radio collars. They were studied sporadically until 1991 when all 12 packs had seemingly died or disappeared. In 1970, when studies began, there were an estimated 95 individuals in 12 packs. Not so long ago wild dog were present in the SNP in small numbers. So why not the Serengeti National Park (SNP)? So why is it in this well balanced, large ecosystem that we don’t ever see African wild dogs ( Lycaon pictus) on the Snapshot Serengeti cameras? Of course, African wild dog numbers everywhere are low even within (PA’s) but they are part of the carnivore guild alongside lion, leopard, hyena, cheetah in most of the big PA’s like South Africa’s Kruger National Park and Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Sure, it isn’t without its problems, nowhere, not even protected areas (PA’s), are exempt from the onslaught of effects from humans either directly on the ground or through climate change but in general the health of the Serengeti is robust. The Serengeti is renowned for being one of the few relatively intact large ecosystems remaining in the world. African Wild Dog Photo Credit Pexels from Pixabay