I haven’t spent a lot of time in this area though my first memory of it was a good one. In May 1993, I’d been driving myself through Chobe and Moremi with a friend. It had been a good trip, though we were disappointed not to have seen any wild dogs. By the time we left South Gate, in the heat of midday, we had given up trying to spot animals. We were in NG34, but didn’t think of this as a wildlife reserve.
After about 14km along the main track, we slowed down to find our way blocked by a large pack of very lazy wild dogs wandering about the road, and lounging by the side of it, yet showing little interest in our vehicle. They posed for photographs, as harmless lapdogs, for about 30 minutes until they finally wandered off – thus providing us with one of the best game sightings of our whole trip. Only now, knowing how long researchers spend following the dogs in this area, do I understand why these dogs were so totally relaxed with our vehicle.
The commonest antelope here is probably the impala – a favourite prey of wild dogs, although you’ll also find good numbers of tsessebe, kudu, giraffe and warthogs. Elephant are fairly common and, like buffalo, often move through here in the dry season in large herds. Roan are seen occasionally, while a real treat is the small herds of sable which appear fairly regularly in front of camp and near the Gomoti River.
Of the predators, lion are dominant although the area certainly has a permanent presence of wild dogs also. Leopard and cheetah both occur, but aren’t seen often. The landscape should suit leopard; I guess that after a few more years leopard will become less shy here, showing themselves a bit more.