Tambuku Rhodesian Ridgebacks

Bonnie is the ijakalasi who came in from the cold. She was found by Sian Hall, as a seven month old pup,  tied to a tree from a rope in an African hometead, just outside of a game reserve. In such areas matings do sometimes occur between black-backed jackal and domestic African dogs. Bonie is just such a dog -- partly jackal, partly indigenous African dog. As a young dog the jackal characteristics were most apparent, physically and behaviourally.

 

For those of you who live outside of the mother continent, or who are unfamiliar with this age-old trend, here is a little information on exactly what an ijakalasi is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jackals on the Fringes

 

 

When the first European colonists arrived in southern Africa in 1653 they soon realized that the indigenous peoples of the land also keep dogs. Early descriptions of these dogs varied.  Some were described as greyhound-like, hyena-like, and even jackals-like.  Although the archaeological record is rather scanty the available evidence does point to different morphological variations ranging from a basic pariah dog to a primitive hound and a more stocky Basenji type of dog.  All these morphological types have been in existence in South Africa for at least 1000 years if not longer. What is evident from both the archaeological skeletal remains, early historical descriptions, and indigenous classification is that a myriad of different morphological and perhaps even functional dogs existed on the South African landscape long before European colonialization of the sub-continent. One of the morphological types that has been described and even graphically illustrated by early travelers is a small type with jackal-like features.

 

Among the Zulu of today this dog is described as the ijakalashi or the “jackal dog”.  According to the Zulu it is essentially a cross between a black-backed jackal and their most common and multifunctional indigenous dog - the pariah-like isiqua. Interestingly, Zulu people maintain that these dogs remain fertile despite being potential dog-jackal hybrids. Their beliefs, however, do not concur with the present academic stance that all dogs are essentially domesticated wolves and that other canids played no role in this process. 

 

 By the time Sian Hall obtained Bonnie, she had already been named. It is popular amongst Zulu people to name their dogs traditional European names. Her yellowish coloration is traditionally described as Mpofu – that is the Zulu world for eland or eland coloration.  Unlike most Zulu dogs that have semi-erect ears Bonnie has large upright ears again very reminiscent of those of a jackal.  Her small and slightly elongated sharp muzzle is also blatantly jackal-like in appearance, as are the black markings on her tail, and the side striped markings on her flanks.  Her tail-shape too, is far more jackal-like than dog-like

 

More than her looks it is perhaps her behaviour that is most intriguing.  When we first obtained her she would spend most of the day sleeping in a dark corner either under heavy foliage in our garden, or hidden under a chair or some piece of furniture somewhere in the house. However, her whole nature changed in the evening.  She insisted of going out and spending the entire evening hunting for insects, geckos (a type of lizard), and rodents in our garden.  Spiders were not allwed to exist, and we would find crumpled up spiders everywhere.

 

Unlike the rest of our dog pack she would not defecate in some flat area but chose an obvious raised surface like a stepping stone, some rock feature in the garden, and even on top of our roof!  Jackals in the wild commonly defecate on raised features such as a tuft of grass – probably to mark their territory against other rival jackals in the area. Bonnie’s faecies also has sharp, almost tufted ends – something like a bow-tie.  This again is a common jackal trait; dog faecies typically have blunt or rounded ends.

 

But despite all her jackal-like attributes Bonnie has been well integrated into the rest of our Rhodesian ridgeback pack. The longer she is socialised in the pack the more dog-like she becomes.  In terms of status she is clearly at the bottom end of the pack – often acting the role of scavenger darting in and out for bits of food left behind by her heavier Ridgeback relatives during their evening feast.  When reprimanded by them she often disappears into a dark hole somewhere on our premises until such time when she thinks it may be safe to resume her scavenging around their food bowls. But she has also learned to outmaneuver them during feeding time -- food often disappears from their bowls (and from our dustbin) well before being served to the pack.. 

 

Bonnie is also very well-disposed towards her human owners and modern-urban life. She is extremely affectionate, happy, playful and engaging. Whilst she may not be the most obedient of dogs she has engaged with snakes on more than one occasion when Sian is in the vicinity. When left alone with the snake she lies quitely transfixed, staring at it, until Sian should appear again, and than all pandemonium is let loose. She is a good alarm dog, is protective and brave.  Her food requirements are minimal and her resistance to typical African canine diseases,  such as billary, is quite phenomenal. And flies leave her alone while they pester the Rirdgebacks.

 

Bonnie is a fascinating little animal. Her jackal blood enhances her usefullness, rather than depreciates from it. Sian Hall is currently registering the type with offcial canine bodies as a distinct type to be preserved as an African inheritance.If anyone would be interested in preserving this, and perhaps keep a puppy, please do not hesitate to contact Sian.

 

Please refer to Sian Hall's book Dogs of Africa, and look out for her future books and Rhodesian Ridgebacks and African dogs for more information on this fantastic little dog type.