Mpindo pups arriving in crates at PDC Rehabilitation Facility on 26 June 2018

It feels like yesterday, but it’s been almost 6 months now since we brought the Mpindo Pack into our Rehabilitation Facility. The time has come to release them and we are happy to be announcing that the Mpindo pack will be released back into the wild where they belong next week. As shown on #Dynasties, we do not hesitate to save painted dogs. We believe in taking action to help an individual, be it a person or painted dog, because each and every individual is important and does make a difference.

Our Rehabilitation Facility was established in 2002, thanks to the help of John Lemon and Painted Dog Conservation Inc. Its purpose being to allow us to house and care for injured, sick or orphaned painted dogs with minimal handling until they recover enough to rejoin their families in the wild. The facility also allows us to house painted dog packs that are at risk from hostile landowners and other threats, keeping them safe while we find them a new permanent home.

Knowing this, we managed to swiftly respond earlier this year in June when we received reports of a perceived “problem pack” in Mpindo, a community 80km from our operating offices and with no direct ties with PDC. The dogs were reported to be killing livestock in the village and people were threatening to take matters into their own hands. However, they didn’t harm the dogs, rather they asked for us to assist them and remove the “problem.”

Mpindo pack now: Mom and Dad look out as pups feed.

As a result of all these combined efforts, the lives of 8 pups and 2 adult painted dogs were saved, a great positive for the population of these endangered species. The pack is now going back into the wild, we know it wont be easy for the pack but we hope they will adapt early enough.

The pack will be fitted with a VHF collar, thanks to Wild Dogs MTB for donating one, to enable us to monitor how the pack will fare and a GPS collar provided by PDC UK. Our research team will closely monitor the pack and we will be giving you updates.

Mpindo Primary School kids going on a game-drive during their stay at Iganyana CHildren’s Bush Camp

We thanked the community for their positive actions by inviting the Children from Mpindo Primary School to join our world famous Iganyana Children’s Bush Camp programme. Your generous support has provided the funds for this and the children will join the programme in 2019.

To get in touch with us, email info@painteddog.org or via our various social media platforms.