Ester: Alpha female of the Kutanga pack

“Jealous I’m tired. I’m actually falling asleep. I need you to drive...

Conservation Clubs

Story 1

A Conservation Club is a group of local school children that share the same interest in conserving natural resources in their school grounds and the area surrounding their villages. Established in 2009,

Cochise was born into the Vundu pack of Mana Pools in June 2011.

He was one of a litter of nine. At the time he didn’t particularly stand

out from the rest of the pack, but today..

Jealous tells me that tracking the dogs is a hard life. I know it’s not easy, especially on those bitter cold winter mornings. But it’s not as tough as the dog’s life

5 Stories - Mana Pools, Wildlife Vets International., Of Dogs and Roads., Anti Poaching Breakthrough., Iganyana Children’s Bush Camp.

Xmas and I had seen Gaia and Aurora hunting on Friday morning

Gaia and Aurora Translocated to Gonarezhou National Park

It was hot, the humidity high, a line of sweat trickled

Safe and Sound.

 Aurora and Gaia, the two females that were missing, have been found and they are safe

A Dog’s Life

After the loss of Bullseye, we were concerned about the future of the Kutanga females.

The Ukusutha take another big step.

Jealous and I watched the Ukusutha pack feeding on an impala, rather like proud

Hopes and Expectations

May and June are possibly the two months of the year we look forward to the most. It’s denning...

The Ukusutha move one step closer to life back in the wild.

 Friday, April 29^th was an unforgettable day. It was the day we moved the “pups”...

Some Room for Optimism?

We ended 2010 with some room for optimism given the reports coming in about new dogs

Monitoring dogs in Mana Pools.

November was a pivotal month for Painted Dog Conservation. After many years of trying,

The sound of the chase, fast feet racing by, the kill and eating noises were all unmistakable.

A dog’s life.

 We often marvel at the sociality of life as a painted dog and their caring nature

Starvation Island revisited

 I stood, rather pensive, watching the guys launch the boat

The challenges of raising pups in the wild.

 Our fears were confirmed when Greg and Ester walked into the den site.

Stability returns to the Kutanga pack.

"Shall we do it?" I asked Jealous.

The

Kutanga pack are giving us cause for concern.

Follow up from Painted Dog Conservation on dogs being taken from the wild.

The recent investigation film concerning the international trade in painted dogs raised

A phone call between Greg and I was enough and a quick decision was made to capture Sithule.

I find it hard, it’s hard to find words, which can adequately express the emotions we are feeling at this moment.

On August 28th, we released seven dogs from our Rehabilitation Facility into Hwange National Park. The relatively smooth operation was the culmination of many months of hard work, blood, sweat and tears.

Needle sharp teeth bit down on my thumb, causing me to jerk my hand back quickly. This was more of an instinctive reaction rather than caused by any real pain and with Jealous behind me laughing, I crawled forward on my stomach again, reaching further inside the den.

She hadn’t moved for over an hour. The white tip of her tail shone in the cold July air, but she did not move.

We heard the sound of the dog, caught in a snare and struggling for its life.

Exceptional rains have caused extensive flooding along the Zambezi River, which is now at its highest level in over fifty years.

The year seems to have got off to a flying start. Certainly for Greg and I, as we have both just completed another exhausting though rewarding trip to the USA, UK and Holland in an effort to raise much needed funds for the months ahead.

It's raining in Zimbabwe. Quite literally and the life giving water has brought a fresh flush of green to the desperately dry bush.

I often get asked what it is like to be living in Zimbabwe right now.

I glanced out of the window as the plane came into land. The sky was filled with ominously dark thunderclouds and the impending storm seemed symbolic of what lay ahead for me.

Jealous and I returned from our trip to Tanzania determined to track down our local packs in Hwange.

We made our camp knowing that the lions must have been close by...

June saw Jealous and I making yet another trip to Starvation island to check on the welfare of the three remaining dogs.

Edward Muchuchuti spent 18 years at Tashinga, the National Parks base adjacent to Starvation Island, before he retired in 2006.

In December 2007 I wrote about the adventures of Jealous and I on Starvation Island, more specifically our misadventures with boats.

Jealous and I returned to Starvation Island again in November to check on the progress of the five dogs we released in August.

The Five dogs we released onto Starvation Island are hunting successfully. It's an understatement to say that this has come as a great relief to us, as our concern was growing due to their apparent lack of interest let alone effort in trying to hunt.

Five dogs have just been released onto Starvation Island as the first step in their rehabilitation to a truly wild state.

The radio by my bedside crackled into life.

"Peter, Peter, Jealous, do you copy". "Peter this is Jealous, can you hear me"?

Sometimes in Rains. Not in the real sense of welcome nourishment for the parched landscape, but in the sense of a seemingly relentless onslaught to our emotions, as our lives are intrinsically intertwined with those of our beloved dogs.

February proved to be a hectic month on a project and personal level.

Arguably the most significant event to take place, in the struggle against the relentless tide of poaching, since we set up the first professional anti poaching unit in 2001, occurred this month. It was named "Operation Bush Buck".