Seeing wild animals happy and free in their natural habitat is the epitome of joy for safari goers. Kruger National Park visitors, Mohammed Jinnah and wife Sharifa were lucky enough to encounter a wild dog family with some curious and playful pups.
‘When you get to spend 40 minutes at a wild dog den, with very curious and relaxed puppies, then you get an opportunity for many photos,’ Jinnah said.
‘We were about 6km north of Mopani camp on the 25th of July when we could not believe our eyes. There were six wild dog puppies on the road and not an adult in sight. We stopped a distance from them as we did not want to scare them away. They were curious and walked towards us. Awesome sighting.
‘We are regular visitors to Kruger since 1976. We have had many wild dog sightings but this is the first one with pups,’ he added.
Take a look at these stunning pictures:
Across the African continent, the wild dog population is estimated to be between 3,000 – 5,000 individuals, according to Endangered Wildlife Trust.
Wild dogs are endangered for a number of reasons. Human-wildlife conflict and habitat fragmentation are major contributing factors. The natural habitat of the dogs have been made smaller due to farming. Wild dogs will unknowingly wander onto a farm and in order to protect livestock, farmers will kill them.
Images: Mohammed and Sharifa Jinnah
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