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 connecting protected areas remain functional despite increasing human activity and habitat fragmentation. The study […]

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.