Malawi: African Wild Dogs return to Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve!

Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) in cooperation with African Parks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has succesfully reintroduced 14 African Wild Dogs from South Africa and Mozambique to Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve*. A pack of eight animals were released into bomas in Liwonde National Park and a pack of six into bomas in Majete Wildlife Reserve, where they will remain for several weeks, allowing them to adjust to the new conditions before being fully released into the wider park areas. Each pack has been fitted with a mix of satellite and radio collars to facilitate the continual monitoring of their location and habitat use and ensure their long-term protection in the parks. According to Cole du Plessis, coordinator of EWT's Wild Dog Range Expansion Project, there have been no stable established packs of African Wild Dogs in Malawi for more than 20 years, possibly since the 1980s. [src.] 

All dogs safely released into their temporary boma to acclimatise after translocation,
Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi © Matt Moon

The African Wild Dogs were sourced from Gorongosa National Park and Karingani Game Reserve in Mozambique, and Somkhanda Community Game Reserve and Maremani Nature Reserve in South Africa.

*African Parks manages Liwonde and Majete protected areas in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW).

Mozambique: African Wild Dogs have been reintroduced into Gorongosa National Park!

After an absence of more than 25 years, African Wild Dogs have been reintroduced into Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique by the South African Wild Dog Advisory Group (SAWAG). The founding pack of fifteen animals consists of nine males, which naturally dispersed from their natal pack in the uMkhuze Section of the iSimangaliso National Park in South Africa in 2016, and six free-roaming female wild dogs, also originating from the region.
African Wild Dogs are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and continue to face threats in many countries and landscapes in Africa. The pressures facing this charismatic species include loss of suitable habitat, persecution, snaring within existing game reserves, and disease.
 

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.