Conservation in action
Conservation
Painted Dog Conservation- Key Info
- What we’re doing
- What you can do
Conservation in action
African Painted Dog Conservation
Dublin Zoo has been supporting Painted Dog Conservation since 2009, helping to fund African painted dog conservation efforts in in Zimbabwe. Founded in the mid-1990s, Painted Dog Conservation is a non-profit organisation which aims to create an environment where African painted dogs can thrive, while also improving perception and raising awareness among local communities.
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African Painted Dog Conservation
Dublin Zoo has been supporting Painted Dog Conservation since 2009, helping to fund African painted dog conservation efforts in in Zimbabwe. Founded in the mid-1990s, Painted Dog Conservation is a non-profit organisation which aims to create an environment where African painted dogs can thrive, while also improving perception and raising awareness among local communities.
Conserving Africa’s painted dogs
Painted Dog Conservation runs a dedicated Anti-Poaching Unit, which works closely with the Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority to conduct daily patrols of the areas bordering Hwange National Park. Since 2001, Painted Dog Conservation has collected more than 30,000 snares, enough to kill roughly 3,000 animals! PDC also actively monitors more than 6 packs of painted dogs in Hwange National Park, using state-of-the-art radio collars to track their behaviour and hunting patterns.
Rescue and rehabilitation
Painted Dog Conservation operates a Rehabilitation Facility and veterinary clinic, allowing them to care for injured, sick or orphaned painted dogs, before returning them to the wild. This facility is also used to house painted dog packs which are at risk from local landowners and other threats, providing a safe place for them until a new home can be found elsewhere in Zimbabwe.
Rehabilitation Facility
Status in the wild
Once numbering over half a million, the African painted dog is now considered Endangered under the IUCN Red List, with approximately 6,600 left in the wild across Africa. They are threatened due to ongoing habitat fragmentation, conflict with local human populations (such as hunting livestock), and infectious diseases, which can be transmitted through contact with domestic animals.
Community conservation
Most, it not all, threats faced by African painted dogs can be linked to human activities, and PDC is working extensively with local communities to improve perception of African painted dogs and raise awareness of the threats they face. Each year almost 1,000 local children attend their free Iganyana Children’s Bush Camp, where they spend four days in woodlands on the border of Hwange National Park. Here they learn about conservation and ecological relationships, giving them an appreciation of painted dogs and the role they play in ecosystems.
What is Painted Dog Conservation
What they about Dublin Zoo's support
“Working together with Dublin Zoo we are creating a future where painted dogs can thrive. Thanks to the long-term support of Dublin Zoo, Painted Dog Conservation can buy lifesaving collars on a regular basis to protect the unique and endangered painted dog.”
– Ron van der A, Chairman of Stichting Painted Dog Conservation
