Wild Dog Research and Conservation

Over the years, the people living in the Samburu Heartland have lost livestock to predators, including lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetah and African wild dogs. Fearing for their livelihoods, farmers and ranchers have “fought back,” killing these animals.

African wild dogs have been exterminated in such great numbers that the species is seriously endangered. In fact, today less than 5,000 wild dogs exist in all of Africa. The African Wildlife Foundation is working hard to understand this rapidly declining population in hopes of finding a way to protect them from disappearing altogether.

AWF, along with several other partners, including the Samburu-Laikipia Wild Dog Project (SLWDP), local communities and NGOs, is working to strengthen and expand wild dog conservation throughout northern Kenya. But, studying this species is no easy task given their travel patterns – it can easily travel 25 miles a day in search of prey. And, suffice it to say, that the terrain traveled is unsuitable for motor vehicles.

To expedite this research, AWF, with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Dutch Government (DGIS), has employed 12 scouts from five different communities. AWF supplies these experienced trackers with the necessary equipment, including hand-held radios, GPS units, and scout salaries. In addition, AWF has initiated critical dialogue between local communities who live in wild dog areas and key researchers to ensure that landowners are well-informed about the research.

AWF’s Wild Dog researcher Benson Lengalen helps coordinate efforts among all 12 scouts. Together, they pool and manage the data collected throughout the Heartland. In addition to deploying scouts, wild dog researchers have helped fit seven dogs from three packs with radio-collars. The collared animals provide important data on movement and mortality – and allow the researchers to alert local herders when the wild dogs are present.

One of the goals of this research is to find a way to reduce human-wildlife conflict by minimizing livestock depredation by wild dogs. To accomplish this, we are comparing the husbandry of herds suffering wild dog attacks with unaffected herds. Data is being collected by game scouts employed in collaboration with local community-based NGOs. Although not enough data is available to characterize the conditions that predispose herds to attack, preliminary analysis indicates that all attacks have occurred during the daytime, rather than when stock are enclosed in "bomas." In all cases, herds that were attacked had lower herder-to-livestock ratios than herds that were not attacked. Furthermore, most herds that were attacked were accompanied by children, rather than adults, and none of the attacked herds were accompanied by domestic watch dogs.

A second approach to resolving conflicts between local people and wild dogs has been to ensure local people are informed when wild dogs are in the area. This simple measure allows herders to be more alert when they know they may encounter wild dogs. Local game scouts employed to monitor radio-collared packs in community areas provide this information to herders in the course of their monitoring, and this has helped gain support for the project among local communities. In fact, presence of wild dogs on community lands may benefit people economically. Not only does wild dog research offer local employment, but if communities become familiar with wild dogs and their movements, they may be able to provide exclusive tourism opportunities.

Though wild dog numbers in parts of Kenya are increasing, there is still a long way to go before they shed their endangered status. Humans continue to pose a great threat to these canids. But, in addition, disease threatens this species.

To continue to help this species rebound, research must continue at a steady pace. In the future, AWF hopes to be able to provide more equipment to scouts to further expedite research. AWF also needs help raising funds to expand research by hiring additional scouts.