African Wild Dogs in Mauritania

Sir--

I happened to have stumbled across your report on wild dogs in West Africa. I may have some information that would interest you. I was a volunteer for two years with the Peace Corps (the America development organization) in the extreme southern portion of Mauritania in a region known as the Guidimaxa. I was primarily based in a village about 7 km from the Malian border and 15 km from the Senegalese border. In my travels, I often saw what looked to be small packs of wild dogs. I've not much experience with wild dogs, but I can tell you that they looked nothing like hyenas, and looked different than the domesticated dogs of Mauritania and Senegal. The locals called them wild dogs, for whatever that's worth.

This village that I was based primarily out of was called Guemou, and was about 35 km south of the city of Selibaby. I also saw what looked like wild dogs along the Senegal River near the city of Bogue, much further west of the country.

I hope that you might find this interesting. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish.

Sincerely,

Michael Richards