Painted Dogs Conservation Centre Ups Anti-Poaching Crusade…as more than 30 000 snares are deactivated
Calvin Manika
THE Painted Dogs Conservation Centre in Dete has stepped up anti-poaching activities to safeguard the treasurable and relatively unknown animals against poachers.
Poaching has been the major hindrance for the free movement of the painted dogs, with snares being the common weapons used by poachers.
Painted Dogs Conservation Centre Anti-Poaching Unit Manager Enock Zulu blamed the country’s socio-economic crisis for pushing many into illegal hunting of wildlife to sell for profit.
“This impacts many species but the painted dogs are particularly vulnerable because they cover relatively huge distances each day compared to most species and consequently encounter many more snares,” said Zulu.
Painted dogs, also known as African wild dogs, are a rare species that is only found in Africa.
Zimbabwe’s Painted Dog Conservation Centre, which also runs a rehabilitation facility for sick and injured pups estimates that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 wild dogs alive on the African continent.
The greatest number of wild dogs is found in Zimbabwe.
“To combat poaching, we employ scouts (both male and female) in our Anti-Poaching Unit. These highly trained scouts work closely with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Forestry Commission patrolling areas bordering Hwange National Park on a daily basis.
“Since 2001, we have collected more than 30,000 snares, enough to kill roughly 3,000 animals and have managed to keep poaching within the area under reasonable control,” said Zulu.
Painted dogs were classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2016.
The decline of these populations is on-going due to habitat fragmentation, human persecution and disease outbreaks.
“We stepped up our anti-poaching efforts in 2020 to combat the escalating levels of poaching caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Zulu added.
“We extended the area of coverage by engaging the community volunteer anti-poaching scouts from Mabale Community and equipped them with quality patrol kits, teamed them up with our scouts.
“These efforts combined to represent 896 patrols, 4826 hours of patrol time covering more than 16500 km. 33 poachers were arrested in the process and more than 5400 snares recovered.
