Study highlights journey of African wild dogs

Three African wild dogs have set a new record after travelling 4,126 kilometres across Southern Africa in an eight-month journey, the longest recorded dispersal by any African mammal. The findings, published in the journal Ecology, provide new evidence that wildlife corridors…

Three African wild dogs have set a new record after travelling 4,126 kilometres across Southern Africa in an eight-month journey, the longest recorded dispersal by any African mammal.

The findings, published in the journal Ecology, provide new evidence that wildlife corridors connecting protected areas remain functional despite increasing human activity and habitat fragmentation.

The study documented 19 groups of wild dogs dispersing across thousands of kilometres of human-dominated landscapes in Zambia and into, or close to, five neighbouring countries.

The research was conducted by the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP), working with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) and conservation partners, including The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Professor Scott Creel of Montana State University, the study’s lead author, said the findings demonstrate that critical wild dog populations in Eastern and Southern Africa remain connected.

“I have studied wild dogs since 1991 and would not have imagined that in 2026 we would conclude that most of the critical wild dog populations in Eastern and Southern Africa probably remain connected,” Professor Creel said.

The GPS-tracked animals crossed rivers and major roads, skirted cities and lakes and passed through Zambia’s heavily industrialised Copperbelt mining region.

However, the study found that such journeys remain dangerous, with some wild dogs dying in wire snares set for bushmeat, including animals that had travelled more than 2,000 kilometres.

ZCP Chief Executive Officer, Matt Becker said the findings highlight the need to protect connected landscapes beyond fenced national parks.

“The movements we documented show that wild dogs can still connect distant populations, but they also reveal how difficult and dangerous those journeys have become,” Dr Becker said.

Dr Becker said conservation efforts should support habitats, reduce human-wildlife conflict and help communities conserve areas between national parks that wildlife depends on.

The Nature Conservancy Kafue Conservation Director, Bruce Ellender said protecting buffer zones around national parks was critical to maintaining wildlife connectivity.

“Creating these safe spaces on the peripheries of national parks and in the buffer zones between them creates the stepping stones for these extraordinary movements,” Mr Ellender said.

The study found that wild dogs tracked by ZCP have now linked all seven ecosystems in Zambia supporting resident wild dog populations, with some animals moving into Mozambique and Malawi and close to Zimbabwe, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

African wild dogs are classified as endangered, with about 6,600 adults remaining in 39 distinct populations across Africa.

Their major threats include habitat fragmentation, declining prey, bushmeat snares, disease and human-wildlife conflict.