Tumaren

Kerry, on 25 Oct 2006

Generally I think most landowners in our area realize that where there is wilddog there is tourism potential and so I have not yet heard of people striking out against them. I do keep my ears to the ground for incidences of livestock predation. Before the wilddog here died off in the 1980s they were known for raiding flocks of sheep and goat and killing many in one go. For behavior like this they were typically shot. I know one rancher in our area that shot three in the 1970s as they were killing his sheep. Today, he welcomes the dogs onto his place as he has given up on sheep and tries to mix tourism with cattle (a more profitable enterprise anyway).

The best thing that can be done to insure the wellbeing of wilddog in our area is probably the kind of education outreach that Mpala Research Center undertakes. Rosie Woodroffe at Mpala runs a wilddog research project and I understand that she does outreach to local communities. Understanding their movement, the threats they face and educating the local people are probably the best things one can do to safeguard this special animal.