Seeing wild dogs on Lolldaiga Hills for the first time since 2017

A group of nine friends from Switzerland finally made it out for an epic safari holiday, two years after booking it! The group had had to postpone due to Covid and were overjoyed to be allowed to visit Kenya with no PCR - after it was scrapped for vaccinated travellers in late March.

The group saw all three Big Cats (lions, leopards and cheetahs) all on their first game drive, along with hyenas fighting over a kill and, best of all, a group of three wild dog - seen for the first time on Lolldaiga Hills since 2017. They walked, fly camped and visited the community manyatta too.

The group had incredible wildlife sightings and, on their last day, spotted a small pack of wild dogs - the first time seen on Lolldaiga Hills since 2017. It was truly amazing to see that these animals had returned - without a photo we might not have believed it to be true! Wild dogs have been scarce in the region in an outbreak of Canine Distemper in 2017 killed many domestic dogs and nearly all the wild dogs living in the area. While populations have re-populated in other conservancies, the wild dogs have not made their way back to Lolldaiga… Until now!

We hope to be able to track their movements, but their fast pace means they move many kilometres daily, We tried to find a den in the area, but also had no luck. We hope to find them again - perhaps the incoming rain will make their footprints easier to find….!