Hello and welcome to the AWDC newsletter for 2004. Despite being stuck in Sydney writing up my research this year (I must admit to enjoying the endless supply of hot water, electricity and junk food), I have quite a bit of news to tell. Reports and photos of the wild dogs in the Lower Zambezi have been filtering in from various camps and visitors to the valley this year, so a big thank you to everyone who has sent information back to me.

From what I have been able to piece together, things are looking pretty bleak for the wild dog population this year. Wild dog numbers have dropped by over 60% since this time last year, due to a combination of high mortality rates and emigration.

It seems the Mushika pack has finally moved away from the valley floor, and perhaps even the park. When last seen they were a pack of five adults and four pups in May 2003. Since the pack reformed two years ago with males new to the area, these dogs have spent decreasing amounts of time in their old home range down in the safari area, probably moving towards the original home ranges of the males. The main concern is that the area they have moved to is likely to be less protected and the threats increased. Judging by the lack of successful movement of wild dogs to and from the valley over the last five years it is becoming increasingly unlikely that they will be seen again.

That leaves only one pack of dogs in the valley this year, the GMA pack, and tragically it appears to have been reduced to one core group of only five dogs. The photos I have received of this remaining group shows that the alpha male (Batman), one adult female (Galadriel), and all of the pups from last year are missing, presumed dead. This pack was being badly harassed by spotted hyaenas at its den sites last year, and had already lost five of its eight pups by October 2003. It is the first time that no pups have survived to yearling age out of the 7 litters observed, and suggests an increasing threat by competing predators, which is not good news. Three two-year-old females are also missing from this pack; it’s likely they have emigrated as this is the typical age for females to move on, and a recent sighting of females in the Game Management Area suggests we might be able to confirm this. There is slim chance the females may rejoin their natal pack, however it’s more likely they will continue to move out of the Park and GMA’s and into higher risk areas in search of available males. There is some good news in that Papillon, the new alpha female of the GMA pack, has been seen looking very pregnant and should now be denning. Hopefully this pack will have more success in raising a litter this year, although they will have their work cut out for them with only five adults in the pack, three of whom are not very experienced hunters.

Adult mortality, emigration, and high pup and yearling mortality from predation have proved to be a disastrous combination for the Lower Zambezi dogs over the last twelve months. It doesn’t take much to send a small population over the brink of local extinction. However, there are solutions available in the form of active management, and this is exactly why AWDC came into being, and why I spent five years driving up and down the valley tracking the dogs; to identify the threats that were keeping the population down, and come up with some management solutions. The first four years of data collected showed snaring was the main threat and suggested that reducing this might be an adequate solution in the short term, as regular snare removals briefly helped the population increase in numbers. Overall, 30% of the population’s adult wild dogs have picked up snares, and that does not include the many dogs that have mysteriously disappeared each year, only the observed survivors. However, the last twelve months has shown the level of impact a few more pressures can have on an already stressed population, and more active management is required sooner rather than later.

Only one group of wild dogs has been observed immigrating into the area since 1998, therefore an influx of wild dogs into the Lower Zambezi in the near future is highly improbable. Effective management is likely to require initial translocations of dogs into the area to build up numbers. Fortunately, the genetic data AWDC is currently generating will provide the information needed to facilitate the reintroduction of dogs into the area, perhaps just in the nick of time. I’ve managed to sequence DNA from all the maternal lines in the population, and a few from South Luangwa and Kafue National Parks, so all that poo collection and smelly lab work was worthwhile! Thanks again to all the camps that let me store the samples in their kitchen freezers.

A second strategy, essential to long-term conservation, will require securing bigger areas to allow the dogs to disperse successfully, form new packs, and avoid competing predators. If the poaching threat is reduced over a larger area and wildlife corridors are secured up towards South Luangwa National Park, an area already mostly made up of Game Management Areas, the dogs will be in with a chance.

You may well ask, why bother going to all that effort with a population this small, if the odds are stacked that highly against them? Because the populations in Zambia may provide a vital link between the Eastern and Southern African wild dog populations, and are therefore important to the survival of the species. Because the Lower Zambezi wild dogs have already provided new insights into the dynamics and behaviour of small populations under pressure (watch this space for a thesis!), and many of the remaining wild dog populations in Africa fit into this category. Finally, because we are the ones stacking those odds

The wild dogs in the Lower Zambezi are doing their best to hang in there, despite losing most of their habitat in recent decades and having to cope with increasing man-made threats. Anyone who has seen these fascinating and graceful animals trotting lightly across the open plains and woodlands of the Lower Zambezi knows that they belong there, and that others should have the opportunity to experience the magic of that sight. We now have much of the information needed to preserve them.

Thank you again for your interest and support, and if you would like to fund a reintroduction program please get in touch! Small donations are much needed and appreciated too. Please ask for details.

Thank you to the following sponsors: Yancey Walker and Dwight Hibbard, Cincinnati Zoo USA, Arthur Vorys, Mark Reed and Sedgewick County Zoo USA, The Wallace Research Foundation USA, Afrikeye UK, Danida, The University of Sydney Australia, Zoos Victoria Australia, Old Mondoro Safari Camp LZNP, Kanyemba Lodge LZNP, Chiawa Safari camp LZNP, Conservation Lower Zambezi, Elefriends Australia, Sally Shiel, Airwaves Charters Zambia, The Classic Safari Company Sydney, and all the safari camps and staff in the LZNP.

© Afrikeye 1999 - 2007 (certain items under permission of original copyright owner)

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