PDC Annual Report 2023

2023 was a year when we really saw the impact of the work we have undertaken during the past 25+ years. For the first time ever we have seen three if not five packs of painted dogs utilising the buffer zone in our core operating area. Three packs denned in the area and we deployed the full extent of our resources to try and protect them, which was successful on the whole but not without tragedy.

Notes from the Field: Denning and Inbreeding

Clara earlier in the year

The tale of the Mpindothela has taken a better twist this time around. Clara, the pack's alpha female, now has pups, and the pack is denning. The Mpindothela pack is a merger of the four males from the Mathathela pack, which used to roam near our headquarters in Dete and the four remaining females of the notorious Mpindo pack. The pack formed when we released the Mpindo females to join the waiting males outside our Rehabilitation facility last year. 

Looking back, since the pack was formed, the Mpindothela lost its alpha male Khule to a lion attack and a promising female MaDube to a road accident. Their future looked bleak following these incidents. The pack regrouped well, and now with pups comes new hope for the pack and the painted dog population in Hwange.

Pregnant Clara feeding with her pack

In Mana Pools, Boas, the son of Taku and Tafara (born 2020) of the Rucomecci pack, has joined the Nyamepi pack with a male we believe to be his brother, Dickson. In the video below shot by our researchers in Mana Pools, Boas and alpha female Whisky are mating.

Boas and Whisky Mating

While, on the one hand, it's good to see "new" males join the Nyamepi pack after the disappearance of alpha male Gamma in early May and the other four males, it is still a concern because Taku and Whisky, are sisters. So Boas is a close relative, indeed nephew of Whisky.

This continues a worrying trend in Mana pools of an apparent lack of "new blood" migrating into the area.

Boas and Whisky

In Partnership with the Community

Mabale Community Anti-Poaching Unit Volunteers

No matter how much progress we make with the dogs, it’s no use if we work in isolation from the surrounding communities. In 2020 and in 2021 we had a mutually beneficial and successful operation in collaboration with the Mabale Community Anti-Poaching Unit  (MCAPU) This year, we have again got funding to engage the MCAPU for another six months. Keeping our foot on the pedal, so to speak, by having and maintaining a solid presence on the ground.

In 2020, we saw an escalation of poaching activities in the areas bordering Hwange National Park due to hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We formally engaged the 45-strong MCAPU, mainly women, whose children benefit most from our Children’s Bush Camp. We deployed the MCAPU  in areas outside their community to assist our 16-strong professional Anti Poaching Unit. We gave them a daily stipend for these patrols to support their families. This collaboration resulted in a record +5000 snares being recovered in three months, more than double the average number of snares collected annually.

In 2021, thanks to your generous support, we again engaged the MCAPU for six months. We managed to maintain a presence and pressure in the field, which reduced poaching activity. As a result, only 2000 snares were collected. The MCAPU's life-saving work provided a blanket of protection for all wildlife in the area. The stipend they received significantly boosted the local economy at a time when opportunities were scarce from the impacts of lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is worth noting that many communities in our core operating area are replicating the efforts of the Mabale Community and making their villages safe for livestock and wildlife. These communities living on the edge of Hwange National Park are prone to human-wildlife conflict incidents. Sianyanga community is the latest to show interest and set up a voluntary community anti-poaching unit.

PDC Anti-Poaching Unit Manager Enock Zulu Addresses Community Volunteers

We haven’t been spared from the escalating costs of operations due to fuel price increases. A huge financial backing is needed to do the work we do. We were very pleased and grateful to receive 296 food ration for our Anti-Poaching scouts from the French Embassy in Zimbabwe. The work at hand is still daunting, we continue to call for increased support for us to continue with this critical and life-saving work not only for us but for the generation to come.

Painted Dog Conservation partners Wild and Free Foundation

Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) and Wild and Free Foundation (WFF) have partnered to support conservation through sport, sponsoring the Iganyana Football League. Wild and Free Foundation (WFF) is a non-profit organization based in the United States and South Africa with a mission to empower youth and communities living around the national parks and wildlife reserves in Africa through sport and economic opportunities to reduce their dependence on poaching.

For over 15 years now, PDC has been sponsoring the local football league - Iganyana Football League – to reach out to the youth about conservation, keeping them engaged and away from illegal activities in the wilderness, e.g. poaching. Over the years, the league yielded significant results in reporting poaching activities, reporting painted dog sightings and supporting community-based initiatives such as clean-up campaigns and borehole repairs.

The PDC WFF partnership couldn't have come at any better time than now. To reflect this partnership, the league will now assume a new name, 'Rhino Cup Champions League Zimbabwe – Iganyana Division' to reflect this partnership.

Rhino Cup Champions League (RCCL) is the brainchild of WFF. WFF successfully implemented the Rhino Cup Champions League in Mozambique in 2017 with positive results such as reduced rhino poaching. Boredom, idleness, and poverty are some of the contributing factors to becoming a poacher. RCCL Zimbabwe addresses these factors by supporting and sponsoring the sports communities love - football - helping save wildlife and people.

Soccer Kit and Equipment Handover Ceremony

Under this new partnership, we distributed WFF Germany-sourced soccer kits and equipment on the 2nd of July 2022 to all 20 community-based teams in the league. The local chief, Chief Dingani-Nelukoba, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the PDC Board of Trustees, Col K Mhlophe from the national football governing board Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA), Zimbabwe women's national team coach Sithetheliwe' Kwinji 15' Sibanda, WFF's Kathrin Ehrke, community leaders and team representatives among others graced the event.

Each team received at least two soccer kits, including boots, socks, balls, cooler boxes, nets, cones, and bibs.

PDC and WFF's common goal is to empower and uplift young people and to help them get on a positive life path instead of the destructive path of poaching or any other types of illegal activities while engaging with people, uplifting communities and protecting wildlife. We are creating an environment where endangered species like painted dogs and other wildlife can thrive.

The RCCL Zimbabwe - Iganyana Division supports 20 male and four female community-based teams from communities adjacent to Hwange National Park, directly impacting wildlife and people welfare in the area.

To support conservation through sport, kindly send us a direct email or donate to the button below.

Giving poaching the red card!

Conservation through Action and Education!

Keeping Up with the Dogs

A happy pack of painted dogs by Nicholas Dyer Photography

The dog stories for the period are a mix of both good and bad news. Most of you would know about the Mpindothela pack, a merger of the four males from the Mathathela pack which used to roam near our headquarters in Dete and the four remaining females of the notorious Mpindo pack. The pack was formed when we released the Mpindo females to join the waiting males outside our Rehabilitation facility last year.  

Tragedy struck when Chenai, the seeming alpha female, was run over and Peace, one of the males, disappeared. This was quickly followed by the death of the male Khule and suddenly the pack was only five in number.

The Mpindothela pack

The pack separated soon after Khule’s death. The females Madube and Clara spent a lot of time near our Rehab facility, making frequent ‘visits’ to villages nearby to predate on goats. Despite the losses we are very delighted to report that the community responded positively. They did not kill or harm the dogs. We worked closely with the communities involved, Mabale, Dopota, Lupote and Magoli, as well as the community anti-poaching volunteers to safeguard livestock as well as keep the dogs safe.

A fellow stakeholder, Soft Foot Alliance has been piloting an earth regeneration project in a small area of Mabale and has been promoting group herding and bomas for livestock. It is interesting to note that none of the households partaking in this Soft Foot Alliance’s program lost goats to painted dogs or any livestock to any wildlife. 

Community Ant-poaching Volunteers helping our Research and Anti-poaching team

In light of this and with some insights from the Tusk Symposium that we recently took part in, which emphasized working together to build resilience in conservation, we are exploring opportunities and possibilities of collaborating with Soft Foot Alliance. The aim is to expand their programs outside of Mabale village into all the villages in our core operating area. Their programs are proving to be effective in reducing human-wildlife conflict and we believe we can do more for both painted dogs and the community by working together with Soft Foot Alliance.

The Batsha pack

In Sinamatela, our base tracker Washington Moyo reported a new pack composed of two females and two males which, he named the Batsha pack, meaning ‘the new pack’. He sighted the pack for the first time in the Kashawe concession in Sinamatela. Upon investigation, he discovered that the two males are Lifa and Dela, once with the Lukodet pack and they had dispersed in 2021. The two females, Zizi and Rocco, are also dispersals from one of the well-known packs, the Bumbusi pack. A family has been formed and we are happy with this new possible breeding unit that will add to the Hwange National Park painted dog population.

The Batsha pack