The biggest threats to painted dogs come from humans. The painted dogs are injured and killed in snares, road kills and expanding human settlement reduces suitable habitat for them and their prey.
They are also susceptible to diseases such as rabies and distemper from domestic dogs.
Vets attending to a sick painted dog.
Painted dogs don’t have the best reputation in Africa— through no fault of their own.
Human ignorance and misinformation is perhaps one of the biggest issues facing the painted dog population. Local landowners believe them to be dangerous, numerous, wanton and indiscriminate pack hunters, and thus best removed from their land.
Our education and conservation programmes aim to tackle these issues, and bring painted dogs back from the brink of extinction.
“A disease can permeate an entire group through just one dog, and wipe out a whole pack. Identifying and containing disease is an integral part of our work.”
DID YOU KNOW?
There’s no record—real, mythological or otherwise—of a painted dog ever attacking a human being.