A Golden Retriever is acting as surrogate mom to three African wild dogs at the Potawatomi Zoo in Indiana, reports the South Bend Tribune. The canine, Kassy, came to the rescue after the pups’ mother rejected them. According to the zoo, the dog “immediately accepted” the puppies and started looking after them as her own.
Zoo separated African wild dogs from ‘inexperienced mother’ after birth
12 hours after the birth of five African wild dogs, the zoo determined their mother, Bleu, was “inexperienced” and “was not caring for her pups the way she should have.” They then decided to separate the puppies from her.
Officials later sought the advice of the African Painted Dog Species Survival Plan (SSP). The plan recommended looking for a surrogate domestic dog to help raise the pups instead of bottle-feeding them. Subsequently, with the help of the Indiana Council for Animal Welfare (ICAW), they got in touch with the family of a Golden Retriever, who’d just given birth to a new litter of puppies.
Over the next few weeks, zoo officials worked overtime as they closely monitored the pups and their new surrogate mom. “It was a crazy first month,” Josh Sisk, the zoo’s executive director, told South Bend Tribune. “Our team was there for four weeks 24/7. We had a mattress next to the dogs.”
However, despite Kassy and the zoo staff’s best efforts, two of the five pups died. Sisk also mentioned that last year, the zoo had another litter of African wild dog puppies who did not survive.
Future plans for reintegration of African Painted Dog puppies
The zoo’s original plan was to reintegrate the three surviving pups with Bleu, their father Maurice, and aunt Colby. However, that changed after the adults showed no interest in raising the puppies. As such, the zoo is currently working to build a home for the pups in the same vicinity as the adults.
“This has been such an emotional roller coaster for the entire staff,” Sisk shared. “But through a lot of hard work and attention, we have three healthy pups that should hopefully contribute to the survival of painted dogs.”
According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), there are only around 6,600 adult African wild dogs left in the world, living in 39 subpopulations. Their population is threatened due to various factors such as habitat fragmentation, disease, and human-wildlife conflict.
