Protecting the world around you
Conservation
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Painted Dogs
The animal that started it all
Painted dogs are a highly social, living in packs that are variable in size, but averaging 7 to 15 adults and subadults.
Usually only the dominant female will successfully raise a litter and births may take place throughout the year, although most common between March and June.
Litter size is the largest of any canid, averaging ten pups, which remain at the den for around three months. Outside of the breeding season, painted dogs cover vast home ranges. They are primarily crepuscular, with most hunting taking place during the cooler morning and later afternoon hours.
They are very vocal and have a wide range of calls, including the unmistakable long-range “hoo” call which is used to unit pack members after they are separated in the hunt. An adult painted dogs’ shoulder height is 0.6 -0.8m and weight 20 -30kg with males very slightly larger than females.
Grant Beverly
Grant Beverly: “After completing the academic component of a Diploma in Nature Conservation at the Tshwane University of Technology in 2007, I completed a year’s practical training/internship at Scientific Services in the Kruger National Park. I assisted with various research projects (Lion Monitoring Project, Biodiversity Monitoring, Large Tree Project) and continued with biodiversity monitoring for a further three months before accepting an assistant field researcher position with the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust on the Wild Cheetah Project. Key responsibilities included: conflict mitigation, trapping cheetahs for collaring, setting, and monitoring camera traps, conducting questionnaire surveys and monitoring livestock guarding dogs. This work kick-started my career as a carnivore conservationist and developed valuable skills suitable for the implementation carnivore conservation.
I am currently based in Hoedspruit South Africa, outside the western boundary of the Kruger National Park and working for the Endangered Wildlife Trust, for whom I have been researching the African Wild Dog population since 2010. Key responsibilities include collaring and monitoring African Wild Dogs, developing, and managing a photographic identification database, data collection and management, running citizen science campaigns and liaising with tourists and park officials to obtain sightings data. I am passionate about my work and large carnivores, and I work tirelessly under difficult circumstances to meet my goals.”
The Endangered Wildlife Trust
The Endangered Wildlife Trust was founded in 1973 and is driven by a team of passionate and dedicated conservationists working through 13 specialised programmes across southern and East Africa, each falling under one of our three key strategic pillars: saving species, conserving habitats, and benefitting people.
The EWT is saving species through 5 programmes dedicated to understanding the population statuses for species of concern, the threats to their survival, and what we can all do to reduce these threats and save our most endangered wildlife species. These five programmes are the Carnivore Conservation Programme, Wildlife in Trade Programme, Birds of Prey Programme, Vultures for Africa, and African Crane Conservation Programme.
