Chief's Island, in Moremi Game Reserve in the heart of the Okavango Delta, is renowned for its abundant wildlife, especially its high densities of its carnivores says Ryan Green.
Having worked here for over nine years, I have become accustomed to leopards and lions prowling around Mombo Camp. But, for me, one predator stands out above the rest - the African wild dog, and in particular a female who has lived a most extraordinary life.
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I only realised just how amazing she was when filmmaker Brad Bestelink recruited me as an assistant and guide on his documentary A Wild Dog's Tale .
In the 1990s, the number of wild dogs on Chief's Island was at its peak. However, as the population of lions increased, the dogs dwindled, leaving just one solitary female whom Brad nicknamed 'Solo.
The prospects for a wild dog living alone on an island heaving with lions are not good - but instead of leaving to find others of her species, she stayed put and made friends with the closest substitutes she could find.
First, she won over a pair of black-backed jackals by feeding them from her kills. Then, when the pair produced pups, she regurgitated meat for the litter as if they were her own. After a while, the newborns began to welcome their 'aunt' home from a hunt by nipping the sides of her mouth to beg for food.
Things took an even stranger turn when a spotted hyena started following the ragtag little group around. We'd often see the wild dog racing through the bush with the jackals skipping at her heels and the newcomer loping along behind. Later, all three species could be found feeding side by side
The arrival of a hyena made the little group even stranger. This bizarre behaviour has been observed for almost four years now, and the wild dog has initiated relationships with other jackal packs within her range. When she came into ostrus last year, she even tried to mate with a hyena!
Not long afterwards, Solo's apparent confusion reached new heights when she encountered another pair of jackals with four tiny puppies. She won the trust of the adults by leading them to her kills, and when their offspring were old enough she began to feed them, too. But then, maternal instinct gone awry, she 'kidnapped' the jackal puppies, driving their parents away aggressively.
For the next few days she guarded her new family from their increasingly frantic parents. But eventually, when Solo was distracted, the adult jackals managed to round up their little ones and herded them back to their den. We wondered
what Solo might do to get the pups back, but the arrival of lions in the den area and the appearance of a pack of wild dogs meant that she had more than enough to worry about.
Surprisingly, she avoided the new pack, and instead returned to the area where she lived with her original group of friends.
And life carried on as before. Perhaps, in total contradiction of everything known about pack-animal behaviour, Solo has chosen a life that suits her. It may not be orthodox, but it seems to work.
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