As it turns out since our last annual e-newsletter, more remote villages were found between the Tana River and Tsavo East National Park, a critical corridor linking ‘our’ wild dogs to those in the park. So, there was more work to be done, and done it was! With a translator and motorbikes, and a mokoro or two, the final trek to the western hinterlands was a hard-won success. The Conservancy has now completed the first comprehensive large-scale surveys of wild dogs and livestock depredation in the North Eastern and Coast Provinces of Kenya. Covering some 100,000 sq km, this was no small feat! Some of the area is experiencing tribal conflict and suffering at the hands of al-Shabaab.

In the not too distant past, many conservationists mistakenly believed that there were only vagrant packs in this region. After conducting interviews in over 180 villages, some of which were surveyed more than once several years apart, we now have over 1,000 wild dog sightings in our database. A definitive map showing wild dog distribution and corridors will be produced. Villager reports of livestock depredation will enable us to identify hotspots as well as provide much needed information on the distribution of other predators such as cheetah and caracal. Preliminary analysis of the livestock loss reports indicates that overall losses due to wild dogs are low.

We want to thank you for your support! We could not have done this without your help.

With our Education Program Director in place, we are expanding our educational outreach south of the Arawala National Reserve and east of the Tana River. Since last year’s teacher training workshop, school lessons on the food chain, and that includes the important role African wild dogs as well as other predators play, are being taught in local primary school classrooms.

With the aim of dispelling myths about wild dogs, a documentary film about their family life is being shown to students as well as adults. To give local people of all ages a window on the remaining wild places and wildlife in Africa and beyond, we will be using the Planet Earth series in schools and villages. Several headmasters have already agreed to work with us to start local wildlife and environmental clubs for boys and girls. So, we have lots of work to do and are asking you to please help us make this happen.