A 'tail' of survival and surrogacy: Potawatomi Zoo welcomes endangered African painted dogs

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Potawatomi Zoo’s African painted dog pack grew twice its size this fall with the addition of three painted puppies in late September.

The dogs are currently unnamed but go by Blue, Red and Orange by staff who’ve helped care for them since birth. The trio was born to parents Bleu and Maurice on September 28.

In the wild, African painted dogs live in large, unique packs. The success of a litter lies in the entire pack pitching in, and zoo staff soon discovered the pups wouldn’t thrive in the conditions they were born into.

Within hours of new mom Bleu giving birth to her original eight puppies, staff noticed she wasn’t taking to her kin as she should, and Maurice was taking her lead.

Realizing the problem, the Zoo enlisted the help of the African Painted Dog Species Survival Plan, who suggested a surrogacy to fulfill the pups’ needs.

In came Kassy, a golden retriever with a new litter of her own and milk to spare. A day after the painted pups were born, Kassy arrived to take her place, quickly bonding with her expanded brood.

The adjustment came with its challenges, one of which ensuring both the painted dogs and Kassy’s golden pups were getting enough food and quality time. As is common with baby animals, five of the eight painted dogs did not survive, zoo staff said.

Now nearly three months since their birth, zoo staff are working to build a home for the pups next to Bleu, Maurice and Colby so they can adapt to life in a pack. If the group cannot successfully adjust to one another, the pups will be moved to an accredited facility to hopefully raise families of their own.

The zoo has not yet announced when the public can see the dogs in person.

While we wait, be sure to check out the slideshow of the zoo’s newest members.