Painted Wolves

I was at a wonderful party last Friday evening, at Mimi Avery's, of Avery's Wine Merchants of Bristol. So obviously the wine was pretty good that evening. There were a number of people there that had been to Africa and even someone from the BBC who is in the process of managing people filming out in Sierra Leone – rather them than me.

Anyway, we were discussing wild dogs. For those of you who are keen wildlife spotters, you will know that seeing wild dogs is something of a treat. I have only been lucky to see them a few times, but I will never forget my first sighting of a pack of wild dogs - the painted wolf.

It was in Zimbabwe, during my time in Save Valley Conservancy, and I was driving back to my mud hut which really was in the middle of nowhere. (My first night there I had not slept a wink for fear of being eaten by a passing leopard.)  An impala bolted across the road in front of me, swiftly followed by three wild dog. I've never seen anything like it. They caught the impala about 10 m from the road whereupon the remainder of the pack descended upon their evening meal. The impala didn't stand a chance. There didn't seem to be any semblance of order, all the dogs just tucked into this impala, squabbling and fighting over tasty morsels. You had to admire the way they devoured their prey, within half an hour only the horns and a few bones were left. And I was dehydrated as my mouth had been open for the duration!

As the light was fading, these satisfied and satiated animals trotted quietly into the bush like ghosts, leaving little behind to show that they had been there in the first place.

It was a memory never to be forgotten.