African 'Painted' Wild Dogs have been on the verge of extinction for many years now, this mainly down to the impact of man. The Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus), also know as the Painted Wolf and Cape Hunting Dog, have been seen as a pest to the farmers of Southern Africa for many years.
The African Wild Dog is vulnerable to many risks pushing it closer and closer to extinction. The more South Africa westernises developing bushveld to farmland lessens the chance of the dogs future survival.
On the 5th of March 2009 a new pack of 16 strong Wild Dogs were spotted minutes from the Projects Abroad base camp Legodimo in the Tuli Block of Botswana, this is a great sign as wild dogs have not been seen in this area for over 5 years.
Projects Abroad volunteers stumbled across the pack on a routine game drive through the Legodimo reserve earlier this month.
Gerrit Prinsloo the Projects Abroad conservation Director has since found out that the pack of 16 wild dogs were re introduced to Mashutu game reserve last April, and are being monitored by Andre Sneman from the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Projects Abroad volunteers will be making a special effort to monitor the movements and habits of this particular pack whenever they are in close proximity to the Legodimo base camp.
Projects Abroad began sending volunteers to Legodimo in the summer of 2007. The type of work they get involved in ranges from research projects into elephant numbers and their migratory routes to the building of research hides around the reserve.
Kath Potgieter, Wild dog specialist who conducted Masters Research in the area explained."It is very encouraging to hear of the wild dog sighting in Legodimo. The area, which is perfectly situated to become part of the transfrontier conservation area with South Africa once fences are dropped, holds great potential to contribute to the continued conservation of these endangered canids in southern Africa".
Set up in 1992, Projects Abroad specialises in offering students and others a diverse range of projects and destinations throughout Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Projects Abroad offers 80 different placements to 3,500 volunteers per year in areas such as sport, medicine, teaching, conservation, journalism, care, business and community development.
For further details please look at our website. Alternatively please look at our Conservation in South Africa website
www.volunteer-conservation-south-africa.org.
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Notes to Editors
Photo within release shows the sighted pack.
Additional photographs and interviews with Projects Abroad volunteers are available upon request.
For further information about this and other projects, contact Harry at Projects Abroad on 01903 708300 or 07789 990013 or visit www.projects-abroad.co.uk.
