One of the most beautiful and intelligent animals on the African continent is the African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus). The wild dog is a highly specialized pack hunter with an 85% rate of success bringing down prey animals. The Wild Dog is listed as endangered, constrained to 12% of their original range, with packs routinely coming into conflict with human activity.
In Namibia, the Naankuse Foundation has several groups of wild dogs in their care. Almost every individual currently living at the center came in as an orphan, some came alone, others with litters of up to 7 pups. Namibia farmers have taken to killing what they see as "nuisance" animals who kill their livestock. The wild dogs amazing hunting ability and extremely high success rate make them vulnerable to blame. Unfortunately farmers may take the shoot first approach and this is something Naankuse works tirelessly to rectify.
One call to the center and either by plane or by truck someone is on site to help farmers with any livestock issues. Either by relocation, GPS tracking or through education they work to keep the wild dogs in the wild. Namibia's Ministry of Environment and Tourism is solely responsible for deciding the fate of the animals who are taken into care at Naankuse and whether or not they can be reintroduced to the wild.
How can you help? Try the Painted Dog Conservation.
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