ewt.org.za

WATERBERG  WILD DOGS

​

African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus) are the most endangered carnivore in South Africa, with an estimated 520 left in the whole country. A single pack has survived in the Waterberg,  however over the last five years their numbers have declined while threats have increased. Our goal is to safeguard this very last pack of genuinely free roaming Wild Dogs.Previously the landowners of the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve had not tolerated these naturally occurring carnivore due to conflict and with their decline  from approximately 80 individuals  in 1998 to just one pack in 2017,  it is critically important to safeguard them from further persecution. The priority for the Endangered Wild dog is to promote pro-active co-existence between landowner and Wild Dogs such as early warning systems, corrals, fences livestock guard dogs and constant liaison with the landowners in order to protect the valuable assets of the landowners and thus afford protection to the Wild dogs  We have engaged with all the landowners and fitted a SAT and VHF tracking collar to the pack to provide an early warning system as well as developed a Wild Dog eco-tourism financial model for taking paying tourist on Wild Dog tracking excursions. From the estimated 5 Wild Dogs left in the Waterberg in 2017, we now have 21 dogs in two packs, a large pack of 15 surviving in the Melkrivier area and a small pack of 6 in the Vrymansrus area of the Waterberg. This is a huge success story.

                                                                                                                                                                        Derek van der Merwe   Carnivore Conservation Programme: Limpopo Regional Coordinator