Successful collaring, unsuccessful (for now) capture...
Known as one of Africa’s most endangered species, the management of our Wild Dog population is crucial to prevent extinction. Management often involves mimicking natural behaviour that has become impossible for wild dogs due to fragmentised territories. In August this year, Wild Wonderful World had the chance to fund a Wild Dog management project in Kwazulu-Natal, where the population is doing so well that their current reserve is becoming too small for them.
The team from African Wildlife Vets successfully collared a young male from a group that has been showing signs of potentially splitting from one of the main packs. Wild Dogs are know for moving extensively across and often between fenced reserves so collaring key animals is essential to be able to track & follow up when that young group of males disperses.
The search continued to find another pack, know to often break out of the reserve’s borders, causing issues with surrounding communities. Alas, a 3-day search to find the pack & capture some of their young females - to potentially bond with the group of young males from the first pack & relocate them together to a different reserve - proved unsuccessful.
This is a prime example of the tricky nature of wildlife management & the efforts involved in conservation! Successful reserves will eventually run out of space and while this allows for reintroduction of animals to other reserves, the logistics of relocation are never clearcut as the well-being of the animals is put first. Even though these types of projects are not glamorous or high-profile, they are crucial to ensure the survival of a species.
🐺 The operation will continue in October & November of this year, click here to help us fund it!
🐺 Project funded in partnership with the Endangered Wildlife Trust & African Wildlife Vets
