News Updates
Painted Dog Conservation Newsletter - July 2018
Every individual matters but recently we had to take that ethos to another level and rescue an entire pack that was in danger having denned in an adjacent communal land area. Read about our Daring Painted Dog Puppy Rescue
Every individual matters but recently we had to take that ethos to another level and rescue an entire pack that was in danger having denned in an adjacent communal land area. Read about our Daring Painted Dog Puppy Rescue
Final Update on the Mpindo Operation
The 2 alphas and their 8 pups were successfully and safely captured and moved from Phindo, a communal land where they had denned, to our Rehabilitaion Facility in Hwange.
These 2 painted dogs had been killing local people’s goats and the villagers were threatened to “deal with the dogs” if they continued to be in the area. See how it all ends.
Safe and sound at our Rehabilitation Facility.
Celebrating 20 years saving painted dogs together.
Peter Blinston gives an update on whats going on in Phindo where they are trying to capture and relocate a pack of two painted dogs and their pups. The pack had denned in a communal land, Phindo, and...
The Ngamo Rescue: In Phindo
Celebrating 20 years saving painted dogs together.
On their 20th anniversary of working with PDC and saving painted dogs, Peter Blinston, our Executive Director come painted dog expert, and Jealous Mpofu our Chief Tracker are doing what they love most, saving painted dogs. Capturing a pack denned in a communal land and killing goats…who knows the outcome?
The Ngamo Rescue: In Mpindo
Peter Blinston and Jealous Mpofu
On their 20th anniversary of working with PDC and saving painted dogs, Peter Blinston, our Executive Director come painted dog expert, and the experienced Jealous Mpofu our Chief Tracker are doing what they love and one of the most critical exercise in the field they met, saving painted dogs.
We received news of two unknown painted dogs that are denning in a communal land in Phindo, 20 km past Ngamo village along the railway line. The two dogs pack is reported to be hunting down and killing local people's goats in Phindo which has triggered the community to report the issue to us and Zimparks.
Zimparks have since instructed us to move the dogs from the area and our team is now on the ground trying to trap and capture the dogs for possible relocation to a safe area. On the ground in Phindo right now is Peter Blinston, Jealous Mpofu, scouts from our anti-poaching team led by Enock Zulu their supervisor and our APU's longest serving scout Lephius Muyuni.
It's a very volatile situation with an unknown outcome, the team has reported that it's almost impossible to dart these dogs because they are too shy and impossible to get close enough to, which is typical of painted dogs living in communal lands. Capturing and moving the dogs is how we can save them, locals have threatened to kill the dogs.
More details to follow...
Jealous Mpofu, Chief Tracker, 20 years experience tracking painted dogs.
Peter Blinston, Executive Director, 20 years leading a team with a sole purpose of saving painted dogs.
PDC Rehabilitation Facility: Saving painted dogs one at a time.
The intervention by PDC to help one dog, Vusile, has resulted in the formation of five functional packs in Hwange NP and we can trace 137 individual dogs back to Vusile. These constitute more than half of the estimated Hwange NP painted dog population.
Vusile's Story
By Peter Blinston
Vusile at our Rehabilitation Facility
At Painted Dog Conservation (PDC), we have always placed immense importance on each individual dog. Vusile is perhaps the best current example that illustrates this point. She had a troubled start to life following the death of her parents and she ended up as an orphan in our Rehabilitation Facility for a while with her two brothers. She was successfully released back into the wild but after some months she vanished as her release pack (the Bambanani) floundered
The Rehabilitation Facilty
Occasional sightings told us that she was still alive and well though. Until the day she emerged with her new mate, Temba, and six pups.
The alpha female of the Nyamandhlovu Pack, was Socks. She is Vusile’s daughter and Socks had had 33 pups, 16 of them still alive as I write.
Socks a.k.a 'Queen of Hwange'
Socks pups have formed the BaNyayi pack which have had 23 pups.
The BaNyayi Pack
Vusile's two sons Whitetail and Kisser, have formed the Broken Rifle Pack, who have had 23 pups to date. Her other sons Vusela and Painted formed the Sammalisha pack and we have reason to believe that they are south of the Wilderness concession, about 50 kilometers from PDC.
The Broken Rifle Pack
Vusile's plaque at the Rehabilitation Facility
Vusile was killed by a lioness when she was seven years old.
The intervention by PDC to help one dog has resulted in the formation of five functional packs in Hwange NP and we can trace 137 individual dogs back to Vusile. These constitute more than half of the estimated Hwange NP painted dog population.
The name Vusile translates roughly as “being clever” in a street smart kind of way. Hard to argue with that, and something I can relate well with.
Peter Blinston is the Executive Director for Painted Dog Conservation. Read his profile on our Meet The Team page. To contact him, kindly use our Contact page.