Namibia adds African wild dogs to protected species list!

Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) has amended schedule 3 of the Nature Conservation Ordinance of 1975 to include African wild dogs as one of the protected species in the country. Wild dogs were previously not protected at all in Namibia. Through the amendment of the Nature Conservation Ordinance, the species now has the same legal status as, for instance, rhinos.

The African wild dog, classed as an endangered species (high risk of extinction in the wild) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), is both Africa's and Namibia's most endangered large mammal and one of the world's most endangered carnivores. The current population in Africa has been estimated at roughly 39 subpopulations containing 6,600 adults, only 1,400 of which are fully grown. According to the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), Namibia is currently home to an estimated number of 300 - 600 African wild dogs.