They knew they had to leave. African wild dogs were among the most threatened mammals on the planet. They were in their prime at 3 years of age. If they didn't take the chance to trade the security of their birth pack for new opportunities, they would die as they had grown up.
In October of last year, the sisters embarked on the longest and most harrowing odyssey ever recorded for the animal. According to the scientists who tagged the dogs, they traveled 1,300 miles over the course of nine months, which is more than the previous record. They lit out from their home range in the Luangwa Valley in eastern Zambia, traveled across the country, skirted the edge of Zimbabwe and settled in the Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe.
They traveled over steep escarpments and down mud-specked gorges on three separate occasions. They dodged traffic on busy village roads, dodged lions, humans and competitors, and crossed roiling waters that were home to crocodiles.
The sisters were tracked by Scott Creel and his colleagues at Montana State University, who fitted one of them with a gps collar. The dog known as EWD 1355 became the main character. The sisters probably stayed together for the entire expedition because the wild dogs are so dependent on one another. The researchers want to start a new pack of their own.
Matthew Becker is the CEO and a manager of the carnivore program. There were a lot of threats that could have ended the journey.
The expert who worked with the African wild dogs in the Gorongosa National Park said that they had been watching with excitement. These dogs were the first. She said that the Homeric wanderings demonstrate how important it is to protect the landscape.
An annotated "dog log" of the sisters' trek and the lessons it holds for the protection of wild dogs and other animals around the world is included here.
There was rain and it was raining. Normally the rains don't start until November, but low areas are flooded and rivers are threatening to breech their banks. The members of the dog pack are happy. The pups are out of the den and the dogs are roaming across their 116- square-mile home range.
In a brutal, be-glad-you're-not-an-impala kind of way, wild dogs are beautiful. They have black faces, amber eyes, camo-printed coats of white, black and tan, white-tipped tails, and large oval ears. Don't think of a Labrador retriever as a dog if the word "dog" makes you think of one. African wild dogs have been hanging from an outlying twig on the dog family tree for six million years. Their vocalizations are outside the norm. African wild dogs do not howl or bark like wolves or domestic dogs.
The sisters pull away from the rest of the pack and head southwest. They are in standard dog-dispersal mode, ambling along at eight minutes per mile, one-sixth of the pace of their hunting sprint. They travel during the day and sleep at night.
The dogs pass below the southern tip of South Luangwa National Park and beyond the range patrolled by both their natal pack and a neighboring pack. EWD 1355 is familiar with those neighbors by sight, sound and smell. The Stork Colony dogs are too familiar for comfort due to their dispersal from their birth packs. It's best to move on.
The sisters enter what is, for them, foreign territory with all the attendant threats.
More than half of nomadic wild dogs die within a year of leaving their packs. The sisters don't stop to eat. They look for signs of other wild dogs. Nobody but humans. The sisters disappear into the background.
The banks of the river are 300 feet wide and turgid from weeks of rain. They don't know what to do here. One of the largest crocodile populations can be found in the river. The dogs have been in the water before. They plunge in, single file, and dog paddle across the strong current. Two sisters pull themselves onto the opposite bank. The sisters were on the shore until the last one got to safety.
The sisters go to the Luembe game management area. There are several packs of wild dogs in Luembe. The sisters look at a pack and assess its strength.
African wild dogs are fun to be around. They are part of a group. Fifty-pound dogs can pull down a 300-pound animal, but only through disciplined teamwork and a relentless, balletic athletic activity.
Wild dogs have become like social insects, with fur, in achieving a state of bonding interdependence. The alpha pair of a pack contributes unstintingly to pup protection and feeding.
There are times when helpers give too much meat to their young charges that they almost starve themselves to death. Why don't you? Keeping younger siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews alive is a form of heraldic persistence. Dr. Creel said that everyone is chasing the same goal.
If a king or queen dies, some dogs rise to alpha status. The royal pair that were granted EWD 1355 and her sisters in the Luangwa Valley showed no sign of slowing down. The pack was getting big and unwieldy and that made them want to leave.
EWD 1355 and her sisters are looking for weakness. After ousting the alpha female and her handmaidens, they can move into their place and find a new queen. "I've seen dogs with sores on their faces, from fighting for leadership." Everyone thinks it could be them.
There is a good chance it won't be. Dr. Creel said that only a small percentage of the population breed. Less than 10%.
After being outnumbered, EWD 1355 and her co-conspirators retreated southward from Luembe in a series of spurts.
There is a gnarled seam in the continental cloth that can be seen from outer space. They go from the east slope to the west slope and back again, staying within regions that offer relative protection. They either turn away or run through it when they see signs of humans.
Dr. Creel thinks that wild dogs have a genius for avoiding trouble. Meat-eaters of Africa compete with each other for large prey, and theft is part of the strategy. The kill rate of a lion is only 25 percent, compared to the 50 percent capture rate of a wild dog.
The dogs are small, and a single male lion can easily step in and claim a pack's fresh catch as his own. If more than two or three are playing pirates, spotted hyenas will likely prevail over the dogs. In order to stay under the radar, African wild dogs have evolved to use their ears to communicate and avoid places where humans are present. They are pre-adapted to move through difficult landscapes after five million years of battle.
There is a mad dash to reach the river. Is that really true? Is it possible to swim across it again at the peak of the flood season? Start paddling and shut up.
Try trucks if you think crocodiles are bad. The sisters travel on the Great East Road to reach Lilongwe. The dogs are running across the highway. They travel through villages and farms. Nobody even knew they were there.
It's time for another stamp on the passport.
They are worried. The dogs have not budged for two weeks, and when they have moved, they seem directionless. The scientists are worried that EWD 1355 has been injured.
The researchers are relieved as the dogs abandon the settlement area and head southeast along rough, uninhabited terrain.
The dogs once again confronted and ford the Luangwa River a few miles away from the border junction. The residents of a pack of 29 wild dogs may be what drew them to Lower Zambezi National Park. Few wild dogs dare approach large and aggressive African buffalo, but the Zambezi dogs have mastered the art of preying on them.
The dogs decide to settle down in the middle of the park at least temporarily after traversing the length of the park. If you want to overthrow the alpha female, you can raid the bachelor pool. Maybe the marathon sisters can convince a few of the Zambezi brothers to leave the pack and start their own dynasty.
Maybe it isn't. The sisters left Lower Zambezi National Park and headed northwest.
The dogs are near the capital city. Researchers say the importance of safety zones where hunting and human interference are kept to a minimum is underscored by their grand walkabout. The city of 2.5 million people is not safe. The dogs are heading back to the park.
The company and EWD 1355 are once again following the dog pack. Why don't you? The sisters have 1,300 frequent flyer miles under their coats. According to Dr. Creel, persistence is a wild dog's strength.
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