Robert Fuller in Tanzania

Robert takes time out of his painting schedule each year to study and photograph wildlife in its natural habitat. This year he travelled to Tanzania to watch a pack of wild dogs after the animals had caught his eye on a previous trip abroad.

Wild dogs are the second most endangered species in Africa and yet they are seen as pests by farmers and often overlooked by tourists. Robert is fascinated by their fearsome reputation – he thought they were charming!

Robert's camp

Where did you go?

I camped in the Serengeti, a huge grassland savannah the size of Wales , for a week in Piaya Hills and Ndutu. This was ‘luxury' camping with beds, an en-suite ‘long-drop' toilet and hot water heated on open fires. I then went to the Ngorongoro Crater, a wildlife preserve encompassing the world's largest volcanic crater.

Why did you choose to go to Tanzania in February?

This is the time when wild dogs den and I wanted to see the pups. It is also when the annual wildebeest migration passes through the Serengeti. The scale of the migration is impossible to describe, or even photograph, successfully. You have to see it for yourself.

Why did you choose to focus on wild dogs?

I had seen a pack when I went to Botswana in 2000 and thought they were so playful and fun. Then, when I learned of their plight, I felt I owed it to them to try and do something to raise their profile. My guide and companion, the South African photographer Daryl Balfour, knew about this particular pack and I had been longing to see them.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Shortly before I got there, 18 dogs, including the alpha male and female, were poisoned and the remainder of the pack had dispersed. There are now just 12 dogs left in the Serengeti. It was disappointing not having a den with pups to watch – and devastating for the future of these dogs. Thankfully, we did find eight dogs that had moved into the hunting ground, however, these dogs didn't stay for long. Luckily the migration was on and since I didn't have a den to photograph, we decided to switch our focus and also concentrate on cheetahs.

Zebra with Young limited edition prints. Click here for details.

King of Savute limited edition prints. Click here for details.

Cute cheetah cubs were photographed by Robert Fuller. He's planning a painting of these next!

What was your best sighting?

This has to be a female cheetah with six three-month-old cubs. We spotted her close to the camp just as the sun was coming over the horizon. She had a bundle of cubs all cuddled about her to keep warm. We watched them play for hours before the mother spotted a gazelle in the distance and moved to stalk them. The cubs quickly fell into line behind her – it was quite comical.

What paintings do you hope to develop from this trip?

I have brought home more than 8000 photographs and some great memories. I hope to set some of those elephants, zebras, cheetahs and, of course, wild dogs onto canvas.

What are your hopes for the future of the wild dogs?

It would be a tragedy if the wild dog became yet another animal on the extinct list. But the economic benefit of tourism is rarely filtered down to the people who live alongside these animals. I hope that in the future compensation programs will help to put a value to the survival of wild dogs.

Selection pack of Robert's greetings cards containing all his best international wildlife greetings cards. Click here for details.

Wild dogs Fact sheet

• Wild dogs are the second most endangered carnivore in Africa , after the Ethiopian red wolf.
• Population figures have plummeted from 500,000 to just 3000 in recent years.
• Only the alpha male and alpha female of a pack breed. This is why it is so devastating to the population when something happens either to the pups or the alpha dogs.
• Wild dogs are often nicknamed ‘devil dogs' because of the apparently ruthless way in which thy hunt. In fact they are very efficient, organised killers and their prey rarely suffer for long. They usually hunt in relays – with dogs at the back of the pack suddenly speeding up to take charge of the race when the ones at the front get tired.

My Itinerary

I was out most days from dawn to dusk. I woke at 5am and after a quick round of toast cooked on an open fire I went out on game drives often until dark – sometimes spotting rarities such as aardvark on the drive home in the moonlight. Supper was served around the camp fire at 9pm .

I flew from Humberside airport to Arusha via Amsterdam . Then took a twin engine plane to the Serengeti plains, a vast savannah north of Tanzania just in time to witness one of the worlds greatest wildlife spectacles.

The 1.5 million wildebeest migration is the largest animal migration in the world. Over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa's great predators, migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1800 miles each year in search of rain ripened grass.