African Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus) are currently classified as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List. Within South Africa, there is a free-roaming population, which is a population of Wild Dogs that occur outside of protected areas. This population makes up as much as 20% of South Africa’s population. As they are not within protected areas, natural prey for Wild Dogs is often limited. Therefore, the Wild Dogs may move through private farming lands and consume the livestock and game, which brings them into conflict with the landowners. An estimated 39% of free-roaming Wild Dogs are killed through direct persecution resulting from this conflict. A recent study* co-authored by EWT scientists has tested a novel way of keeping Wild Dogs off private land and safe from persecution.

In their natural environment, dominant predators, such as lions, often control Wild Dog populations. Therefore, scientists aimed to keep Wild Dogs out of certain areas by using the scat of lions as a proxy for lion presence. As some of the Wild Dogs were already fitted with GPS trackers, it was easy to monitor their movements. The scientists tested whether the lion scats alone could deter Wild Dogs from entering private property and causing a threat to livelihoods. Within the study, some properties were treated with lion scat, while others were not treated with lion scat as a control to test the effectiveness of lion scat as a deterrent.

A recent study* co-authored by EWT scientists has tested a novel way of keeping Wild Dogs off private land and safe from persecution.

The scientists found that Wild Dogs were 55% less likely to enter a property treated with lion scat. Those that did enter the property with lion scat stayed for a 73% shorter period than those without lion scat. The scientists also found that some Wild Dog packs were more sensitive to the presence of lions than other packs were, likely due to the packs’ different exposure to and interaction with lions.

The results of the novel approach to managing free-roaming Wild Dogs tested in this study may benefit Wild Dog conservation by reducing conflict with farmers and other landowners. Further studies on using biological cues to control large carnivore movements should be conducted as this could play a significant role in their conservation.

*Haring, R. D., Beverley, G., Thompson, P. N., Taylor, A., & O’Dell, J. H. (2023). Evaluation of lion (Panthera leo) scat as a Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) deterrent on game farms. Wildlife Research. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR22084.

Science snippets: Not all carnivores are monitored equally

Erin Adams and Lizanne Roxburgh, the EWT Conservation Planning and Science Unit

The locations of peer-reviewed African large carnivore studies (2000–2020) from Strampelli et al. (2022). Red crosses show where research has taken place, except in the case of Brown Hyaena, where blue crosses are used. Grey areas represent current geographical ranges, except in the case of Brown Hyaena, where a dotted pattern is used.

African large carnivores have undergone significant population declines over the years. Important information needed to conserve them is how many individuals are left in the wild, which can be gained through monitoring, but not all carnivores have been monitored equally. In a recent publication* co-authored by EWT scientists, the monitoring programmes of African carnivores were reviewed to identify important knowledge gaps. 

The scientists assessed all scientific publications on the African Lion, leopard, Cheetah, African Wild Dog, Spotted Hyaena, Striped Hyaena, And Brown Hyaena produced since 2000. From there, they could assess which species were extensively monitored and where the research was lacking. The scientists also considered the species’ ranges across Africa and whether all regions carnivores occurred in were monitored equally.

The scientists found that the African Lion was the most researched species, followed by the Striped Hyaena. However, of the study species, the Striped Hyaena has the largest distribution across Africa but has not been studied equally across its distribution (see the figure below). The African Wild Dog had very little research attention across its narrow range. Scientists also found that the larger the distribution of a specific species within a country, the more research was done on that species. Countries such as South Africa and Kenya were among the best studied, while countries in Africa’s Northern, Western and Central regions were generally understudied.

The study further revealed that, outside of South Africa, more than 40% of the studies did not include authors from the study country. Therefore, there is a need to upskill and build capacity within African countries to better protect African carnivores across their range.

*Strampelli, P., Campbell, L. A., Henschel, P., Nicholson, S. K., Macdonald, D. W., & Dickman, A. J. (2022). Trends and biases in African large carnivore population assessments: identifying priorities and opportunities from a systematic review of two decades of research. PeerJ, 10, e14354.

SCIENCE SNIPPETS: WHY DID THE WILD DOG CROSS THE FENCE?

ERIN ADAMS AND LIZANNE ROXBURGH, THE EWT’S CONSERVATION PLANNING AND SCIENCE UNIT

Within South Africa, fences are used to contain wildlife in reserves to protect them, particularly in human-dominated landscapes where they could easily come into conflict with people if they leave the reserve. This is especially true for medium to large-sized carnivores. However, they do cross these fences, and once outside, they are exposed to risks such as snaring, persecution, and collisions with vehicles, and any livestock they kill can incur high costs in the form of retaliatory killings by farmers. However, the reasons why they cross fences are not well understood.

African Wild Dog conservation, especially in southern Africa, often includes the translocation of wild dogs from one or more reserves and the formation of a new pack in a different reserve to ensure that genetic diversity is maintained and that population sizes are appropriate. In a recent publication co-authored by EWT scientists*, the reason behind why African Wild Dog packs cross reserve fences was investigated. Using a long-term dataset, they studied 32 Wild Dog packs across five reserves in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa over 14 years. During this time, they recorded 154 events when Wild Dogs crossed fences. They looked at several factors that could be linked to fence crossings, including prey densities, rainfall, wild dog pack size, and the number of lions in the reserve.

The scientists found that the age of the pack (i.e., whether it was newly formed or well-established) and the fence integrity affected whether or not Wild Dog packs crossed the reserve fence. When fence integrity was poor, the probability of packs crossing the fence was higher, especially with newly established packs. This happens in their exploratory phase when they look for territories to occupy in the new reserve. When fence integrity was average, more established wild dog packs were more likely to escape to increase the size of their territories. When fence integrity was good, the probability of packs crossing fences was very low. Reserve management should ensure that the fence’s integrity is good to prevent these crossings. It is also important to carefully manage packs that reach about 3.5 years old, as this is when they would be more likely to expand their territories and attempt to cross the fence.

*Stone, D. W., Kelly, C., Marneweck, D. G., Druce, D. J., Hopcraft, J. G. C., & Marneweck, C. J. (2022). Fence management and time since pack formation influence African Wild Dog escapes from protected areas in South Africa. Journal for Nature Conservation, 70, 126291.