WILD DOG IN THE ORANGE
FREE STATE
C .D . Lynch
extinct today in the OFS", are made to them as having occurred in the Orange Free State. In extracting records of w ild anim als from
h i s t o r i c w r i t i n g s , t h e p r o b l e m of
m isidentification is often present, due to the colloquial and sometimes even scientific names given to such anim als. This is certainly so fo r the W ild dog (Wildehond), Lycaon p ictu s or Cape hunting dog as it is also know n.
W ild dog - O nce an in h a b ita n t o f the OFS.
(p h o to : G e n L a m p re c h t) The W ild dog's earlier scientific names of Hyaena
picta and Hyaena venatica and also the fact that
domestic dogs som etim es became feral, often led to it being confused, in the literature, w ith the Spotted hyaena or dom estic dog.
It is fo r these reasons and therefore not surprising that records of W ild dog in historic tim es are fragm entary, frequently unreliable and largely undocumented in m am m alian reference works. This is at least so of its presence in the Orange Free State.
The historical records (in S m ithers 1986) indicate W ild dog to have been widespread in South A frica. For example packs occurred in the Cape in 1684, near Saldanha Bay in 1773, in Namaqualand and the northern and n o rth eastern Cape Province in c. 1830, in Addo in
1906 and in the A lbany and Bedford d istricts as recently as 1925. However, no reference, other than general statem ents such as: "they are
Fourteen o f a Utter o f sixteen w ild dog pups.
(fro m : H. & J. v a n L a w ic k -G o o d a H 1 9 7 0 ) W ild dog rely on sight rather than smell in hun ting and it is, therefore, to its advantage to utilise open co un try (Sm ithers 1983). Therefore the contention that th is gregarious canid, w h ich occurs in packs of 10-15, m ust surely have been associated w ith the open plains of the Orange Free State, seems very probable. But as far as can be ascertained th is has never been substantiated in recent and even earlier m am m alian accounts. It was th u s of great interest when the fo llo w in g unam biguous account of its occurrence in the Bloemfontein d istrict in c. 1850 w as found in Van der Bank (1984):
"W ild dogs, w h ich ran in numbers, were a terrible curse to the farm er. A troop of w ild dogs w ould get am ongst a herd of sheep, and before the herd or farm er could get near enough to interfere, tw enty to fo rty sheep were torn up. On w h a t is now i-ritz Salzm ann's farm , half an hour from Bloemfontein, a M r. James had his tw o imported rams, the only imported anim als he had, torn up by these beasts.
The farm ers made up hun ting parties against wolves, w ild dogs and occasionally lions. But w h a t removed the w o rst plague, the w ild dogs, w as th a t the distemper w h ich at one tim e w as very bad am ongst the house
dogs got am ongst the w ild dogs and cleared them pretty well out. Some may th in k now th a t the tame dogs got w ild . This w o u ld be an error. They were a species of w ild anim al, never were tame and I fancy could never be ta m e d '.
Such an authentic record now makes other records, w h ich have been questionable u n til now, such as C ollins' (1907) reference to the eleven W ild dogs w h ich were killed during a hun t at "B a in s Vley" in the Bloem fontein d istrict in June 1862, much more acceptable.
A lth ough it is pleasing to have once more discovered" the W ild dog and to k n o w th a t it did in fact once inhabit the plains of the Orange Free State, it is saddening to, at the same time, have to report that presently the W ild dog is one of three m am m als in South A frica w h ich is in danger of extinction. Accordingly it has been listed in the
South A frican Red Data Book as ENDANGERED.
Stable populations occur only in the Kruger National Park, eastern Transvaal and in adjacent
private reserves (Sm ithers 1986). |qH1
W ild dog playing.
(fro m : H & J. va n L a w ic k -G o o d a ll 1 9 7 0 )
b i b l i o g r a p h y
CO LLINS , W .W . 1 9 0 7 . "Free S ta tia " or Reminiscences of a lifetim e in the
O range Free State. South A fric a , from 1 8 5 2 to end of 1 8 7 5 : 2 3 w a rs . Bloemfontein: Friend Print. & Pub. Co. Ltd.
S M ITH E R S . R H .N . 1 9 8 3 The m a m m a ls o f the s o u th e rn A fr ic a n su b re g io n .
Pretoria: U niversity of Pretoria.
S M IT H E R S , R H . N . 1 9 8 6 S o u th A f r ic a n red d a ta book — te r r e s tr ia l m am m als. S outh A frican National S cientific Program m es Report No 1 25 1 -2 1 6
VA N DER BANK. D A. (Ed.) 1 9 8 4 . A voice from Bloem fontein; the reminiscences of G u s ta v A d o lp h F ic h a rd t. M e m o ir s v a n d ie N a s io n a le M u s e u m B lo e m fo n te in 1 9 : 1 -1 1 4
V A N LA W IC K -G O O D A L L . J. & V A N LAW IC K. H. 1 9 7 0 . In n o c e n t k ille r s London- Collins.
KULTUURAAND
Op die foto is van links na regs: mev. Nienaber. dr. C.M. Engelbrecht (direkteur van die Nasionale M u seu m ), prof. P. G. N e t en mev. M . Schoch, w at 'n voorlesing u it R a k a van N.P. van Wyk L o u w gedoen het. D ie a a n d is afgesluit m et 'n rolprentvertoning oor S u id -A frikaan se A rg ite k tu u r en ligte verversings. !lotoDleV o lksb la d )
Op Donderdagaand 28 Januarie 1988 is 'n K ultuuraand in die oud itorium van die Nasionale M useum gehou. Die funksie is deur die S.A. V e r e n i g i n g v i r K u l t u u r g e s k i e d e n i s i n sam ewerking met die Nasionale Museum gereel. Die doel met die funksie w as hoofsaaklik om b e la n g s te lle n d e s meer van die doel en werksaamhede van die S.A. Vereniging vir Kultuurgeskiedenis te vertel. Hierdie vereniging is in 1982 gestig en w il graag meer Vrystaatse lede w erf, ten einde 'n Vrystaatse streektak te stig.
Die gasspreker van die aand w as prof. P.G. Nel, hoof van die Departement Afrikaanse en N e d e rla n d se K u ltu u rg e s k ie d e n is van die Universiteit van Pretoria en tans voorsitter van die S.A. Vereniging vir Kultuurgeskiedenis. By hierdie geleentheid isdieere-lidm aatskap vandie Vereniging aan prof. P.J. Nienaber, voormalige direkteur van die Vrystaatse Museum diens, toegeken. Aangesien prof. Nienaber in die hospitaal was, het sy vrou, mev. M .M . Nienaber, die sertifikaat van ere-lidm aatskap namens hom ontvang.
