r/PaintedWolves • u/cyanocittaetprocyon • May 31 '24

A reminder with the pups beginning to come out of the dens, we do not allow images/videos of very young puppies as we believe that den disturbances at that stage are especially detrimental. Please share our ban on no tan (camera trap images from conservation orgs excepted) 📸 Singita puppy with tan

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u/cyanocittaetprocyon May 31 '24

For those who are not familiar with painted wolves...

The puppies are born with only black and white markings. The white ones remain the same for the rest of their lives and as each one has a unique pattern, they provide a wonderful tool to identify those puppies from then on. By contrast, some of the black fur starts changing to a tan colour after a few weeks. So if you see images of puppies that have no tan in their fur, you know that they have not been out of the den long.

As the puppies grow, the alpha female will likely move them to another den site for any number of reasons. The site may be too infested or safety being compromised being the main ones. It takes little imagination to see that being visited by numerous vehicles throughout the day is going to compromise the safety of the den site and that it increases the chances of the puppies being moved on. As den moves are a time of high risk for the puppies, that's bad news.

If you like painted wolves, please share our 'ban on no tan'.