UPNR officials would like to thank Members for their dedication towards finding the pack of six Wild Dogs to fit a tracking collar within the pack.
Thanks to the accurately and timeously reported sightings, combined with a report of an active den site on a neighbouring property, an adult in the pack was successfully collared. This collar will provide vital information on the movements of this pack in the future will assist should there be any need to find the pack urgently. UPNR would like to thank the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) for providing this collar and assisting with the darting and collaring efforts.
From the active den, six puppies have been spotted thus far and seem to be doing well. The newly collared individual was reunited with the pack almost instantly, as the pack stayed close by throughout the procedure and were right next to the darted animal when it woke up. We look forward to monitoring the movements of this pack in the future.
Unfortunately, the Wild Dog that was collared in September last year has passed away due to unknown reasons. The pack, known as the Umbabat pack, moved south towards Maroela Camp within the Kruger National Park at the beginning of this year, and subsequently split into two smaller packs - one of which remained close to Ngala Private Game Reserve, and the other which continued to move towards Satara. A mortality alert was issued on the collared animal a few days ago, meaning that the collar detected that the animal had died, and the collar was subsequently found in the field
by response units within the Kruger National Park. No carcass was found, and as such there is no way to determine what happened to the Wild Dog. Below are some images of the collaring event last September.
On the socio-economic front, the UPNR is currently engaged with multiple community projects, including projects with the Mpumalanga Scouts and Tsakane Special School. The Scouts, who are focused on developing young minds towards achieving their full potential in various scopes of life, received funding assistance for capitation fees to allow more boys, girls and young adults to join the project, as well as donations of ten tents, a projector, flip charts and various other items for their ongoing activities. Training materials provided have helped 30 Scouts receive mentor training, as well as the materials needed to introduce a new training group - the Meerkats - for five- and six-year-olds.
Leading up to winter, a blanket drive was held for Tsakane Special School - a school dedicated to the education of 205 children with special needs. In total, 228 blankets were donated to the students at the school to assist with keeping them warm in winter, along with toys. Further, the school received a new, upgraded playground through the UPNR’s fundraising efforts. In this, a new jungle gym, swing set, wheelchair swing set, trampoline, sand pit, benches and moveable soccer goals were donated and erected.
The UPNR would like to thank all who contributed towards these fundraisers and community projects - each and every donation made a difference!
If you would like to get involved in any upcoming or future projects, or find out more about how you can assist with any community projects, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Stacey at
Words by Tess Woollgar. Images courtesy of Tess Woollgar and Stacy Pretorius.