Botswana

Botswana Wild Dog Project


One of the challenges of conserving wild dogs is that they range over large tracts of land which brings them into conflict with local pastoralists.  Wild dogs use scent-marking to delineate their territories and gather information about mates, dispersal opportunities, and territory maintenance. Understanding how we can use the territorial behavior of wild dogs can help find ways to inhibit them from ranging into areas where they are at risk of livestock conflict, poaching, domestic animal disease, or automobile accidents is vital to their conservation and management.

The Human Aspect
The Okavango Delta serves as an important source of water which has sustained the agricultural and pastoralist livelihoods of the local people. Because wild dogs range across Botswana and come into conflict with cattle farmers, particularly in areas bordering the Delta, it is of paramount importance to work with farmers and herders to reduce that conflict as much as possible.

Threats
Wild dogs are listed as endangered by IUCN. They have been extirpated from over 95% of their historical range in Africa. The highly fragmented populations that remain are becoming increasingly isolated and subject to extinction due to habitat loss, persecution, and disease. How wild dogs occupy and move across the changing landscape of sub-Saharan Africa will determine their ability to persist.

WCS Activities
The Okavango wild dog population is one of the largest left in Africa. It is likely that this population serves as a source population for Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, and Mozambique. The Okavango Wild Dog Project is monitoring wild dog packs across the Okavango Delta and surrounding areas. We are following dog packs using radio and GPS collars to verify current territorial boundaries and for scent mark collection. We are collecting samples of scent marks for chemical analysis to better understand the biochemical language of the dogs’ communication system, and its implications for territorial control. Recently, we began innovative experiments in which scent-mark samples were placed along borders to deter packs from ranging across boundaries such as roads and villages. Early results reveal that the use of scent-marks may provide an effective management tool for wide-ranging carnivores. If we can determine ways to prevent wild dogs from ranging into livestock and village areas through their own communication systems, we may increase long-term survival of this species. We are also working with local communities, the government of Botswana and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks to collect data on the social ecology and behavior of wild dogs.

Important Next Steps

• We plan to expand our monitoring efforts into farmlands surrounding the current study area, where wild dogs exist entirely on unprotected lands with high concentrations of livestock. This effort will require an outreach component as well, with representatives from the project working with farmers and local communities. 
• We also hope to expand scent-mark experiments to include wild dog populations in Zimbabwe and South Africa.