AFTER almost two years of disputes between various stakeholders over the presence of African Wild Dogs in Tembe Elephant Park, the park is once again home to a free-roaming pack.

While the original, 14-strong pack of dogs was relocated to a nearby game reserve – after spending more than a year in a boma at Tembe – a new pack was recently released into the park.

Disputes over the dogs’ presence arose after the previous pack repeatedly made their way out of the park, putting communities’ livestock at risk.

In October 2017, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife captured the pack and kept them in a boma to try and relocate them, but Tembe Safari Lodge, situated within the park, brought an urgent court application to block the dogs’ removal.

This tug of war over the dogs’ ownership resulted in them being kept in the boma for more than a year before they were finally relocated to a game reserve in Pongola.

The resolution lay in a gathering of all stakeholders – Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Tembe Community Trust, Endangered Wildlife Trust, Tembe Safaris and Wildlife ACT – to collectively find a way forward.

This led to a ‘robust’ memorandum of agreement between all parties, which incorporates breakout and compensation protocols, GPS collars, monitoring, research, and management tools.

‘This document paves the way for a more modern approach to African Wild Dog conservation and will ensure that all parties will ultimately benefit by having the species present,’ said Cole du Plessis of the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

Two months ago, two male dogs from the original Tembe pack, together with two females from the Kalahari, were released into Tembe Elephant Park.

‘This pack has settled in well since the release and there is hope that a new generation of Tembe pups will make an appearance before year-end,’ said Du Plessis.

The most endangered carnivore in South Africa, African Wild Dogs number a mere 590, spread among 14 protected areas, with a few free-roaming dogs in the Waterberg region.

On the African continent, wild dogs are extinct in 25 of the 39 countries, with habitat loss being the species’s greatest threat.

‘As the only country with a stable population on the continent, South Africa is in a unique position to provide a source of wild dog packs for protected areas elsewhere where, in some cases, populations have been extinct for decades.

‘In the context of biodiversity conservation, this team victory is of the highest value to Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa and the African continent,’ said Du Plessis.

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