The general aim of the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Carnivore Range Expansion Project, operating within the Carnivore Conservation Programme, not only includes the conservation of current carnivore populations and the maintenance of genetic integrity in areas where a lack of sufficient ecological connectivity hinders natural dispersal, but also extends to the expansion of geographical range for focal species (with a primary focus on African wild dogs Lycaon pictus and cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus).

Restoring previously extirpated or locally extinct populations, thereby recovering lost range, and securing safe space across the African continent is thus an important priority for us.

“Translocation” refers to the action of purposefully taking an organism from a suitable habitat in one area to a suitable habitat in another area. This is done to encourage threatened species to repopulate in a new area to improve the conservation status of the species and restore the functioning of the ecosystem through population restoration.

Most recently, several translocations have been undertaken by our wild dog range expansion team to reintroduce wild dogs to additional safe spaces in South Africa.

For the first time, founder packs have been introduced into Mpilo Private Game Reserve and Nambiti Private Game Reserve, in collaboration with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Wildlife ACT. All introduced individuals have been fitted with tracking collars to enable daily monitoring of their movements, population and behavioural dynamics, and ecological influences and to help prevent human-wildlife conflict. The information gathered allows for informed decision-making – both at the reserve and the species level.