Our Work

The work at KAWDCP focuses on increasing the overall well-being for not only the African wild dog, but also the farmers and local community. Through communication, engagement, problem-solving and more, we can create an environment where farmers are heard and solutions are made for both man and dog.

African Wild Dog Collaring

July of 2022, the FIRST African wild dogs outside of protected areas were collared in Namibia. These collars will help the organization keep track of where the animals are, in order to cease future preventable persecution. This will also provide an early warning system for the farmers to keep their calves and smaller animals safe from the predators, which in turn will reduce conflict and build relationships. The collaboration between conservationists and farmers will not only help to prevent persecution, but will work to reshape the perception the wild dogs carry within the community.

Community Collaboration

KAWDCP plans to hold regular community meetings to share information about number and location of AWDs. This will raise awareness of the situation of AWDs in the area and introduce human-wildlife conflict mitigation tools to reduce conflict. This will also allow a platform for the community to voice their needs, conflicts, and wishes in order to productively and proficiently work together to improve the living environments for both AWDs and the community.

Health Survey & Research

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Through university collaboration with KAWDCP, the impact of diseases on the AWDs in Namibia is being studied.

The health status of these dogs in this area is very much unknown, so it is important to identify disease resistance or vulnerability Namibian AWDs may have. Many of these diseases, like rabies, distemper, and parvovirus, are transmissible between canine species. Sampling domestic dogs in the area as well AWD, will give valuable information regarding how much contact domestic dogs have with the wild dogs. In addition, an examination of fecal samples for internal parasites as part of our free roaming AWD survey is being conducted.