PAINTED WOLVES, COLLABORATION AND CO-OPERATION IN AFRICA’S UNDERDOGS.
Having recently found occasion to watch “Dynasties”, a series of nature documentaries which, in being condensed into a selection of hour long programs by the British Broadcasting Company for public audience, was respectively devoted to the group behavior of a variety of animals that had, whether by accident or design, been cursed to endure an almost intolerable cocktail of both climatic extreme and internecine savagery throughout their lives, I became intrigued by the many novel characteristics that life appeared compelled to adopt in efforts to survive adversity.
Focusing upon the breeding patterns and collective identities of five separate groups of animal, including “Senegalese Chimpanzees”, “Antarctican Penguins”, “Tanzanian Lions”, “Zimbabwean Painted Wolves” and “Indian Tigers”, the B.B.C. was, in concentrating largely upon Africa, further observed to extend it’s compass to embrace both the magnificent sterility of the earth’s frozen South and the lush verdure of Asia’s tropical forests, a survey which, in representing a relatively good global cross reference, served to grant insight into some of the most impressive, beautiful and hostile wildernesses on earth…
Having followed the exploits of the “Alpha Male” Chimpanzee “David” in the first episode of the series, a grueling account of internal dispute in which the phenomenal strength of the great primate was observed to be employed to the effect of quite literally lynching members of it’s own kind to death, I proceeded to follow the progress of the B.B.C’s film crew across Antarctica, a trip, which, in being distinguished by an eleven month stay upon the “Neumayer Three” Base in “Atka bay”, served to bless the photo journalistic account of the events which transpired there with a degree of authenticity generally spared for manned space missions.
Having borne witness to the shimmering sterility of the earth’s Southernmost extreme, a frost glazed wasteland that, in evincing virtually no rain fall, was also observed to be unpredictably laced with a proliferation of invisible crevasses that lay unannounced beneath it’s veneer, I avidly traced the return of the B.B.C film crew back across the parched plains of the Masai Mara nature reserve, a region which in being strafed by perhaps one of nature’s most magnificent predators, “the Lion”, granted me opportunity to perceive that the celebrated feline was, perhaps through association with the intense heat of the African Summer, noted to possess a sedentary alter ego which frequently engaged in a number of perversely endearing social activities including sleeping and playing games with newly born cubs.
Taking into consideration the dominance of Lions upon the vast unkempt Savannas of Africa, the next installment of the B.B.C’s odyssey was, for me, perhaps the most interesting account of life’s struggle against adversity presented for display, a film which in being shot over a period of eighteen months upon the banks of the Zambezi in the “Mana Pools” game reserve of Zimbabwe, was devoted to the peculiar collaborative behavior of what is perhaps one of Africa’s most misinterpreted predators “the Painted Wolf”, a mottled creature of canine persuasion that, in being termed “a Hyper- Carnivore” in text books devoted to such matters, immediately appeared to represent all of the attributes which one would conventionally associate with a scavenger, an opportunist content to appease it’s appetite with carrion slaughtered by other beasts.
Briefly performing a little research into the prerequisite characteristics of the animal placed before the B.B.C’s lens, I was surprised to discover that, far from being a verminous opportunist, the “Painted Wolf” was, in fact, one of the most voracious hunters in Africa, boasting an eighty percent rate of success with regards to it’s predatory pursuits, an aptitude which, in combining with a reputation for vengefulness that, in being venerated by both the “San” people of Botswana and communities of “Thurean” shepherds, had led to the creature’s appearance in folklore as an avatar capable of bestowing it’s attributes upon men and the practice of deterring the breed’s advances upon live-stock with stones rather than bladed instrument.
It would, in this sense be easy to imagine that the wolf’s proficiency for slaughtering livestock had, many years ago, similarly served to explain many otherwise inexplicable elements in the biblical tale of the Jewish king “David”, including both the Middle Eastern Patriarch’s propensity for watching over sheep and his aptitude for using a slingshot.
The secret to the mottled Canid’s success appeared to arise, in this respect, from a combination of determination and collaboration, “the Painted Wolf” being capable of pursuing it’s prey at speeds of forty one miles an hour for up to an hour through the searing heat of the African noon, a manner of tenacity re-enforced by the breed’s strategic mastery of ambush, a methodology through which the animal was frequently observed to drive it’s quarry straight into larger packs of waiting wolves, a contingent that, in being, neatly equipped with jaws which, although substantially less powerful than those of many large domestic dogs, acted like cutting edges when put to task, efficiently rending flesh from bone with a vigorously manic shake of the head.
As one would imagine, the manner through which such wolves succeed in felling prey far larger than themselves was particularly grueling, incorporating a vicious program of lacerating bites until their quarry was effectively too weak to run, a point at which the breed was thenceforth observed to be a phenomenally fast eater that proved capable of stripping a Gazelle down to the bone in approximately fifteen minutes.
The reason for the incredible rapacity of the Painted Wolf’s dietary regime appeared, in this manner, to be it’s susceptibility to exploitation, it being observed that, in being hailed as a scavenger, the breed’s feeding frenzies were often themselves paradoxically witnessed to attract the opportunistic attention of larger predators such as“Lions” and “Hyenas”.
It was, in this sense, difficult to deduce what it was that had served to make the “Painted Wolf” such a successful hunter, an instance in which the species’ highly coordinated team work and manic frenzy when engaged in slaughter, may be presumed to have once originated from it’s aptitude for pulling buried prey from earthly repose.
Regardless of such a proclivity, the wolf’s decision to forgo such sustenance in favor of larger game remained otherwise inexplicable although it’s habit of “sneezing” to rally number directly before embarking upon hunts presented convincing evidence to suggest that, at some point in time, it had simply grown bored of the dust spun bounty afforded by subterranean life and, in a moment of recapitulation, decided to extend province across the plains.
Having engaged in an amount of study pertaining to the peculiar attributes of the “Painted Wolf”, a process through which I incidentally found occasion to make cross-reference with a number of my South African relatives, who, in themselves avowing a passion for wildlife, had observed that the creature was to be found in abundance upon the arid borderlands of the “Namib Desert”, I was delighted to learn that “Nick Lyon”, the photographer responsible for shooting the footage which had initially served to inspire my interest, was due to stage a late night seminar discussing the themes covered by the “Dynasties” television series at Kensington’s “Natural History Museum”.
Part of a relatively extensive nocturnal program of lectures and debates staged by the Museum some hours after it’s closure to the general public, “Nick Lyon’s” discussion was destined to be held within the “Attenborough Studio” a small auditorium which, in being situated directly beneath the vertiginous parabola of the establishment’s “Darwin Center”, was, in the manner of a traditional amphi-theatre, composed of five seated tiers arranged in an approximately concentric fashion about a small stage, a format which would, within reason. provide the show’s audience with an excellent opportunity to interact with the event’s protagonists.
Making forth towards the Museum in the early hours of evening, unsure as to whether or not my presence would be well received, I was pleased to observe upon arrival, that the edifice’s “Hintze Hall” was thronged with a fairly large contingent of students, an interest that, in presumably having been drafted in from the fellowship of the neighboring “Imperial University” through association with extra curricular study, milled about the establishment’s plazas and concourses in a fairly random manner, a peculiar marriage of incongruities that, in being blessed by the strains of popular chart music cast jovially forth from an overhead speaker, perversely began to adopt the aspect of a night club in my mind.
Perfunctorily taking my place in a lengthy queue that, despite my arrival half an hour before the beginning of the talk, had amassed at the studio’s periphery, I duly waited, glancing nervously back at an increasingly extensive retinue of people, who, in having circumstantially found occasion to assemble behind me, would, owing to the limited size of the theatre, surely be unable to attend the show.
Finally, after about half an hour of internal speculation upon matters of a nebulous persuasion, I noticed that the queue was beginning to move, and within a matter of minutes, found myself seated at the back of the auditorium surrounded by a select body of students who had similarly managed to gain access to the event.
Hosted by “Nick Lyon” and “Nicholas Dyer”, an award winning photographer who, in having captured images of the animal for a book entitled “Painted Wolves, A Wild Dog’s Life”, had been instrumental in establishing an organisation devoted to the protection of the species from an extirpative poaching campaign that, in having been fueled by the promise of a substantial bounty during the early twentieth century, was observed to have reduced it’s number from 500,000 to 6,500 within a century, the talk dwelt largely upon the character of individual wolves, employing slides to exemplify the finer aspect of it’s subject matter, a pretext primarily drawn from the intense engagement of working with the creatures for a prolonged time.
Being shot over a period of 585 days, I discovered that the tele-visual footage selected for “Dynasties” was the cumulative result of eleven separate forays into the heartlands of Zimbabwe, a program throughout which given packs of wolves were effectively re-located in efforts to establish a sense of dramatic continuum, a term beneath which an “Alpha Female” named “Tait” was, in having sired 280 direct descendants. noted, at that time, to preside over the largest pack upon the “Mana Pools” reserve.
In this manner, the tale recounted in “Dynasties”, focussed upon the struggle for supremacy waged between “Tait” and her daughter “Blacktip”, an instance in which the younger Wolf was, in being witnessed to have accrued a sizable pack of her own, perceived, through fluke of circumstance, to have lost a disproportionate number of pups, a series of misfortunes which ultimately encouraged her to challenge her mother’s ruler ship, invading Tait’s territory with a pack of thirty wolves.
Although the outcome of the feudal dispute which arose in the wake of this confrontation was, by the time that filming had ceased, witnessed to have been uncertain, “Tait” was later discovered to have been killed by a lion, granting her daughter theoretical sovereignty over virtually every Wolf on the reserve, an instance in which “Blacktip” was thenceforth recorded to have consolidated her victory by forcing her sister “Tammy” into the Lion occupied country that had claimed their mother’s life.
The Wolves’ relationship with Lions was, in this manner, observed to have provided some of the series’ most memorable footage, there being an instance in which “Black Tip’s” pack, having been molested by a Hyena who saw fit to abduct one of it’s pups, was forced into confrontation with a pride of Lions, an impasse that, in witnessing, the prospect of certain defeat, subsequently drove the agglomeration of wolves into a lake occupied by crocodiles thereby predicating the violent dispatch of a second pup and the extended migration of the entire pack towards fresh hunting grounds.
Perhaps the most intriguing adaptation that the breed was witnessed to eschew during the period in which “Dynasties” was being filmed, was it’s predilection for hunting “Baboons”, creatures that, in themselves being equipped with formidable teeth and weighing almost twice as much as a wolf, proved perfectly capable of mustering skirmish when assailed, an instance in which the wolves were, in slaying their quarry, circumstantially noted to both sustain and miraculously recover from a catalog of horrific injuries.
The animal’s recuperative ability beneath such circumstances was witnessed to have been quite remarkable, wolves being found actively engaged in the pursuit of quarry no more than a week after having sustained what one would conventionally consider to be a lethal injury, a resilience which, in corresponding with the air of durability that generally serves to distinguish the breed, may give some indication as to why it seems willing to take on large prey.
As the seminar reached conclusion both “Nick Lyon” and “Nicholas Dyer” invited the audience to ask any questions that they may have in reference to the detail of the discussion, a proposition which, in meeting with a relatively positive response, granted spectators a chance to confirm a selection of queries including those pertaining to the role of males wolves in packs, those relating to the identification of specified individuals within otherwise fluid groups and how to make donations to the “Painted Wolf Foundation”.
Gradually turning to leave at the end of the show, I briskly made my way towards the Museum’s entrance, noting, as I did so that the gathering of students which had earlier peopled it’s halls had left the premises throughout the course of the debate, an absence which, in granting me an opportunity to dwell upon the matters presented forth for discussion and the vast solace of the frost spun night that promised to sober my journey home, gave me cause for momentary reflection over the many distinctions which may be presumed to arise between the first hand appreciation of natural adversity and the sense of detachment afforded by it’s tele-visual relay.
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