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Key Research Projects Recent
Publications
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KEY RESEARCH PROJECTS RUNNING WITHIN WAG-SA African
Wild Dog Reintroduction and Conservation Program Key researchers: Micaela Szykman, Michael Somers, Jan Graf, Penny Spiering, Ant Maddock, Rob Slotow, Markus Gusset, Steven Monfort and David Wildt. Study Area: Wild dog populations throughout the province of KwaZulu-Natal, including packs monitored inside Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, the uMkhuze section of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, and scattered around private game farms around the two reserves. Project description and status: This work is ongoing and aims to keep a detailed record of all the wild dogs in HiP. The results of this work up to 1994 have been published (Maddock, A.H. 1999. Wild dog demography in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, South Africa. Conservation Biology 13(2): 412-417). An update is presently in preparation and includes the dynamics of the "old" Hluhluwe Pack from 1995 and the wild dogs introduced into Umfolozi during 1997 and 2001. Funding: Smithsonian's National Zoological Park, The Green Trust (WWF-SA), Shirley Sichel and Abbott Endowment Funds, Friends of the National Zoo, Smithsonian Institution (office of the Undersecretary for Science), British Airways, the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park Authority, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, National Research Foundation, Third World Academy of Science, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, The Conservation Trust, The Wild Dog Foundation, and The Sally Club. Web sites:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/ReproductiveScience/African_Wild_Dog/
and http://www.geocities.com/michaelsomers/wilddogs/home.html
Key researchers: Harriet Davies-Mostert, Gus Mills, David MacDonald, Katherine Potgieter Study Area: The research focus is on wild dog populations in two metapopulation site in the Limpopo Province - the De Beers Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve and Marakele National Park - but also encompasses free-ranging packs dispersing throughout private land Project description and status: This project, which is an initiative of the Carnivore Conservation Group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust and Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, has been running since 2002 when a pack of wild dogs were reintroduced into the De Beers Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve. A subsequent reintroduction to Marakele National Park took place in May 2003. The main aim of the project is to develop an understanding of the limitations of wild dogs in small (300-100 km2) fenced reserves by examining a variety of factors at both sites. These include the demographic, biological, ecological and socio-economic considerations pertaining to wild dog conservation and reintroduction programmes. At both Venetia and Marakele, public awareness programmes aim to inform neighbours of the project's activities in the area. Funding: Key support for this project has come from De Beers Consolidated Mines and Land Rover South Africa. Additional support has been received from Lonmin, Masslift and Stuart Bromfield. Web site:
http://www.ewt.org.za
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