Indiana’s Potawatomi Zoo is celebrating the success of a blended animal family headed by a golden retriever mom who saved some endangered African painted puppies.
The Potawatomi Zoo is thrilled to introduce its youngest residents: three endangered African painted dog pups, born at the Zoo on September 28, 2023. They've had a challenging start to life, but the Zoo hopes they will have a bright and successful future. https://t.co/UWoRdTWpK4 pic.twitter.com/JYkhZhls4Z
— Potawatomi Zoo (@PotawatomiZoo) December 13, 2023
According to the Potawatomi Zoo, the pups were born on Sept. 28, but the mother was not properly caring for them.
She originally gave birth to eight puppies, but within 12 hours, it was clear the survival of these new little dogs was in jeopardy.
The zoo explained, “In the wild, African painted dogs live in large packs with unique social dynamics and vocalizations. The success of a litter depends on the entire pack, as all adult dogs help to feed and raise the pups.”
“The success of the birth and the likelihood of raising live puppies can be jeopardized if the pack doesn’t work together as they should,” it added.
The mother’s lack of experience raising her pups and the father’s natural desire to follow her lead caused them to struggle with parenthood.
Whether living in captivity has any effect was not described, but the Indiana Council for Animal Welfare worked with the zoo to offer help.
Kassy, the golden retriever, was caring for her own litter of puppies and had plenty of milk to share.
The zoo brought her and she took to them as soon as they were introduced.
Kassy cared for them as if they were her own. She fed them and cared for them along with her puppies.
But she was only supposed to be a temporary aid. The zoo planned to reintegrate the African painted pups back with their mother, but over the next few weeks attempts to aid their mother into caring for them failed.
Only three of the young dogs survived: Blue, Red, and Orange.
Kassy’s efforts have proven vital to their lives, and they are now old enough that the zoo is building them a home next to their natural parents in the hopes that they will learn to behave like African painted dogs.
The zoo noted, “It has been an emotionally exhausting and challenging journey for the team, but it is the zoo’s mission to work toward the preservation of wild species. Sometimes the journey is smooth and sometimes it takes extraordinary measures.”
“These three healthy, active pups are just the start of this story, and the zoo hopes to share more positive updates of their milestones in the future,’ it concluded.