Saving Africa’s Wild Dog – Wildlife ACT Fund & Woolworths

Wild thing, you make my heart sing…

The African Wild Dog. It’s one of South Africa‘s lesser known and rarely seen endangered species. You can go on a week long safari in one of the reserves they inhabit in South Africa and still not lay eyes on them. It’s the greatest pity as these furry creatures are some the most amazing to witness, roaming free and hunting in their loyal packs, and the pups playing together as your pooch at home would.

The biggest threat to them is – surprise, surprise – poachers, and the snares they set. Rudimentary and made entirely of wire, they cut into the bodies of the dogs that get caught in them, wiping out entire packs in a matter of hours.

We’ve mentioned the Wildlife ACT Fund before – and currently just handed over a cheque of R160,000 to them to help fund their efforts to help and conserve endangered animals like the Wild Dog (read more here). They work on the ground and are currently busy collaborating with engineers and companies locally and abroad to acquire anti-snare tracking collars to help save the Wild Dog. The collars allow rangers and monitors to track the dogs throughout the day. They send out an emergency signal if they dog has been immobile for an unnatural amount of time. The collars are also specially-reinforced and riveted to prevent the animal from choking to death. Once alerted, rangers in the various reserves of South Africa will then swoop in to help save the dog.

A Word from Simon Morgan of Wildlife ACT Fund:

Having watched two wild dogs come out of the den in their reserve for the first time and make their way off into the wilderness only to have to pull them both out of snares just two days after they left their pack is one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever encountered. We hear continuously about the brutal slaying of our rhino population in South Africa, but I can tell you now, I would rather have a bullet to the head than a wire snare wrapped around my neck and it cut into me and suffocate me to an agonising death. The decimation of our Painted Dog population has been on-going for years and it is largely unnoticed.

The same people that are behind the bushmeat trade, which sees thousands of animals snared in our national, provincial and private parks every year, are the same individuals that ultimately end up with a rifle in hand shooting our Rhinos. Help us put a stop this by supporting the Wildlife ACT Fund‘s work protecting these animals and educating communities surrounding reserves on the importance of saving our species.

­How You Can Help

The collars come at a high price. Wildlife ACT Fund has partnered with Woolworths South Africa to rebrand the dogs as “Painted Dogs” since the name Wild Dog tends to carry negative connotations for people like farmers who see them as pests . The partnership has seen the creation of the first of four Limited Edition reusable shopping bags that have gone on sale in Woolworths stores across South Africa. The first of these bags features the “Painted Dog”. R9 from the sale of each bag will go directly toward the Wildlife ACT Fund’s efforts to save the species from extinction. The Fund has already started to collar some dogs from money already raised through the bags.

Simply by buying one of the Painted Dog bags, you can ensure that many more lives are saved. What’s more: the bags look cool and by buying one you can enter and stand a chance to win a R100 000 conservation trip for four to the amazing Thanda Private Game Reserve, where you can experience these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat, as well as getting hands-on experience as you help collar the dogs in the reserve.

• To buy a Wildlife ACT Fund African Painted Dog Limited Edition Woolworths Shopping Bag online – click here!
• Find out more about the Wildlife ACT Fund and the work they’re doing here.
• Find out more about the African Painted Dog here.