I count myself as being truly fortunate in being granted the opportunity of placing Rhodesian Ridgeback pups in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, the KNP.
That Park, bigger than several countries, is about 500 kilometres from top to bottom. It represents the last bastion of an unaltered natural environment of a special type. In the bygone days of Cornelius van Rooyen it also existed to the south of what is today Bulawayo, 600 kms to the west of the KNP, and it was here that he created the original Liondog, now called the Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Changing weather patterns have caused drought conditions to develop in much of the center of the Park, and desertification brings a new challenge to the wild animals, many of whom must face up to the never ending fight for survival. But our Ridgeback is not a prey animal there, though many of the smaller ungulates act with great caution in their presence, and even the mighty Elephant decides that he must approach them with care. This is the environment for which or dogs were designed, and this is the place where they can employ the skills and physical attributes with which they are so richly endowed. But the name of the game in this, the KNP world, is survival. Nature requires two simple rules for life there, and the first is survival. After that the second is a bit easier, but equally important; it is the need to procreate. The Section Rangers in the KNP, of whom there are 22, are permitted under their contract of employment, to be accompanied on the job by their dogs. This is a particularly sensible approach. When you are concentrating on this or that problem you may not be as aware of what is going on around you as circumstances demand. That Rhodesian Ridgeback at your side is exquisitely aware of every move made by the dangerous ones which happen to be directly around both the human and himself. And he does not trust one of them. In fact he looks scathingly at his human when he barges in and breaks the most basic tenets of survival. But he also understands that the two of them are a team, and that if the chips are down they fall together. At no time has a Ridgeback deserted his human. Should your regular dog leave the protective shield of his human, say he escapes out the gate and goes on an adventure, it is estimated that his remaining lifespan has just reduced to 30 minutes. This is regardless of how healthy he was; his state of health has little bearing on his survivability. We have yet to lose a Ridgeback in this fashion, but then they don’t leave their home turf unless instructed to do so. But we did have to learn that a dumb dog is a dead dog and how to look at the training issue. Requirements as to the physical qualities of the dogs could not have been more minimal.