The Lower Zambezi Valley is one of Zambia’s iconic wildlife areas and a tourism hot spot. The landscape has the potential to be a stronghold for painted wolves and also has connectivity to two other strongholds – Mana Pools to the south in Zimbabwe and the Luangwa Valley to the north.
However not enough is known about the painted wolf packs in the area. The population is unstable and has become locally extirpated on more than one occasion in the last decade, with no one understanding why.
They are currently frequent sightings of painted wolf packs in the Park and the Jeki Pack has gained international fame by becoming known for regularly killing buffalo. It is rare for painted wolves to prey on buffalo and urgent action is needed to understand why they disappeared in the past and prevent it happening again.
Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ), Painted Wolf Foundation (PWF) and Zambian Carnivore Programme have worked together over the last year to develop a long-term strategy to conserve the local packs and stabilize the resident population.
To implement this strategy the Painted Dog Fund is funding CLZ to initiate critical work focusing on monitoring the packs to understand the threats they face. In addition, CLZ will use their excellent relationships with local communities to foster better coexistence with the painted wolves.
Alongside this, CLZ are kickstarting a lion project funded by the Lion Recovery Fund (LRF). This is a great example of how LRF and Painted Dog Fund work together to develop synergies in a single landscape.
We are jointly funding an ecologist to work on both species and this week Christine Mwewa has joined CLZ in the Valley. Christine has a BSc in Wildlife Management from the Copperbelt University and has recently worked in Kasanka National Park.
PWF’s Ruth Kabwe has joined her in the Valley and will spend several weeks training Christine in the intricacies of painted wolf conservation. Ruth spent four years in Kafue conserving both painted wolves and lions.
Continue to follow our social media feeds to see updates from what they are up to and what they encounter.
Enjoy this video of a sighting of the painted wolves spotted by Ruth and Christine during training.
