A lioness in one of the world’s rarest lion populations has given birth to three cubs, new video footage shows, raising hopes that the critically endangered big cat can be saved from extinction. In contrast to their southern cousins, west African lions have almost completely disappeared. Scientists believe between 120 and 374 remain in the […]
Tag: African Wild Dog
Wild cats threatened by ‘underrecognized’ risk of spillover disease
Starting in 2020, the global coronavirus pandemic brought the threat posed by zoonotic diseases into sharp focus in the public mind. But across the tropics and beyond, scientists had long warned that shrinking habitats and the narrowing distance between human populations, livestock, domestic animals and wildlife was increasing possible points of contact, risking the spillover […]
Human-wildlife conflict drives African wild dogs to extinction
The African wild dog has become one of the most critically endangered species in Africa. At one time, nearly 500 000 wild dogs roamed the continent, but now only an estimated 7 000 of them remain. With massively reduced numbers from the encroachment of farming activities, there is lack of genetic variation and a new […]
Bringing Back the Beasts: Global Rewilding Plans Take Shape
For thousands of years, bison herds thundered freely throughout the Chihuahuan Desert on both sides of what is now the U.S.-Mexico border. In November 2009, after three frantic months of chasing down the required permits, Rurik List and Nélida Barajas watched as 23 bison from Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota arrived by tractor-trailer […]
Trafficking crackdown pays off in Tanzania
In Katavi National Park, like other protected areas in Tanzania, wildlife poaching is a serious challenge. This is because the park has no fence, and any person can easily enter and kill animals if he is lucky enough to walk out uncaught. According to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) website, more elephants are dying from […]
African wild dogs have evolved to “dwell in the cracks” of a landscape dominated by spotted hyenas and lions
Large carnivores are essential in Africa for ecological, economic, and cultural reasons, but human activities endanger them. Lions, hyenas, and African wild dogs are increasingly relegated to protected regions such as national parks. They must compete for the same food sources within these constrained locations. Of course, competition is nothing new. African wild dogs have […]
Return of the pack: African wild dogs’ epic journey to a new home in Malawi
Under cover of night, a pack of African wild dogs swarms around an impala carcass. Awake and hungry after a 27-hour transcontinental journey, this animated scene in Liwonde national park is a sign of “mission accomplished”: African wild dogs are back in Malawi. “The feeling is absolutely surreal and so emotional,” says Cole du Plessis, […]
Batty about Serengeti’s foxes
At the Grumeti Tented Camp in the Serengeti, we usually gathered at the open air lounge before first light for a cup of coffee and a rusk or muffin. This was a traditional meeting to work out where to go for the morning and discuss what we hoped to see. There were very few vehicles […]