EMERGENCY FUNDRAISER: Her Fight Is Not Over

Help Us Secure the Future of a Critically Endangered African Wild Dog — and Her Pack

Two months ago, the KAWDCP team responded to an urgent call from a farmer in eastern Namibia. A young alpha female African wild dog — one of fewer than 350 left in the region — had been trapped for 4 Days. Alone, badly injured, and separated from her pack, she was still lactating, confirming she had a den of pups depending on her.

She underwent life-saving surgery to amputate a severely damaged leg and was later released back into the wild.

After her release, we continued to monitor her and locate her pack. Encouragingly, she successfully reunited with her pack and exhibited denning behaviour — strong signs that her pups have survived.

However, during the monitoring period, we tragically lost a third adult pack member, likely due to a snare injury. This loss left only two adults to care for the litter, placing immense pressure on them.

We also found the area to be unsuitable wild dog habitat due to several factors: high human presence, proximity to busy roads, frequent snaring incidents, limited prey availability, and poor connectivity to larger, open landscapes necessary for wild dog movement and hunting. These conditions increase the risk of conflict and mortality, threatening the pack’s survival.

Given the ongoing human-wildlife conflict and these habitat challenges, we made the difficult but necessary decision to capture and relocate the pack to a safer, more suitable environment.

The pack is now in a secure boma recovering, where the adults are actively raising their pups ahead of a planned relocation to better habitat.

This effort has been complex and resource-intensive but is vital to preserving this endangered pack. African wild dogs are highly social, and keeping the pack intact gives them the best chance of thriving again. Their reunion also preserves valuable genetic diversity in Namibia’s wild dog population.

Now, more than ever, we need your support to complete this mission:

Your donation will directly fund:

Collaring key pack members to support early-warning systems for farmers

Immediate funding needs:

This pack’s survival hangs in the balance. With your help, we can safely relocate them, reduce future conflict, and give them a fighting chance.

Please Donate Now to keep this wild dog and her family alive.

Thank you for standing with us — and with one of Africa’s most endangered and misunderstood carnivores.