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Born to be wild.
But without your support his future looks bleak.

The sight of a 50-strong pack of African wild dogs in action has to be one of the most wonderful and exhilarating spectacles on the vast African savannah. Wild dogs are renowned for their strong family bonds, and anyone lucky enough to witness their interaction with a new litter of pups cannot fail to be struck by their collective devotion. Peaceful and co-operative within their family groups, they look after their young and sick and depend on each other for survival.

 

Sadly, such encounters are increasingly rare as Africa’s charismatic wild dog is pushed closer and closer to extinction.

Fewer than 8,000 African wild dogs survive in the wild today. The remaining populations are being wiped out by indiscriminate destruction of their natural habitat, the spread of diseases such as rabies and canine distemper caught from domestic animals, and persecution by humans who view them as pests.

Without urgent intervention to safeguard and maintain large areas of natural habitat for wild dogs, this iconic species could soon be extinct.

The wild dog is a ‘flagship’ species. Its presence signals a healthy ecosystem and its conservation goes hand in hand with the survival of innumerable other species and the protection of the wider landscape.

Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique is one of Africa’s best-kept secrets. This pristine and relatively unexplored wilderness is one of the largest protected areas in the entire continent, and is one of the last refuges for African wild dogs – providing a large area of habitat that offers a haven for 450 animals.

The reserve also harbours a tremendous diversity of other wildlife, including 12,000 elephants, 14,000 sable antelope, several thousand buffalo and zebra, as well as smaller populations of hippo, wildebeest, kudu and other antelope species. Duiker and warthog abound, and lion, leopard and spotted hyena are common. Niassa is also home to about 30,000 people from the Yao and Macua ethnic groups.

FFI has been helping our local partner to manage this magnificent reserve for almost a decade. Although we’ve achieved some remarkable successes in Niassa during that time, we still face some tough challenges. Land clashes between humans and large carnivores such as wild dogs and lions can cause tragic and unnecessary losses on both sides.

Niassa provides just one example of the many areas where FFI urgently needs your support. Without our commitment to protect places like Niassa, Africa’s last remaining populations of wild dog, along with other irreplaceable species and habitats throughout the world, might vanish forever.

Please donate today – and help us provide a future for African wild dogs and other species threatened with extinction.

Thank you for your continued support. Your donation is vitally important to our ability to step in and protect countless species and habitats around the world.

What has already been achieved: Funding secured to help protect the entire 42,000 km2 reserve.  Monitoring systems established to collect essential data on wild dogs. Local peoples recruited, trained and equipped to act as community wildlife scouts. Almost half of all the domestic dogs within Niassa vaccinated. Work with local communities to share in the benefits and management of the reserve. Niassa supports some 600 households within the reserve through employment, and local communities receive an annual share of tourism fees.

 

Next steps needed: Maintain and expand the connectivity of range land for the African wild dog. Implement a five-year action plan to minimise the risk of disease transmission from domestic animals to human and wildlife populations. Vaccinate at least 100 domestic dogs in the Mavago area in the west of the reserve. Strengthen the community programme and support the institutions representing the interests of the communities in the management of the reserve. Train community scouts to monitor and recognise symptoms of disease to avert further outbreaks in wild animals. Complete an educational campaign showing the risks of rabies to people and conveying the message that the virus needs to be brought under control for both human health and conservation reasons.

For further information please contact Camila Iturra at camila.iturra@fauna-flora.org or call +44 (0)1223 431954.

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