Established in 1973, the Endangered Wildlife Trust is dedicated to conserving threatened species and ecosystems in southern Africa. With funding from the Rare Species Fund, the Trust breeds guard dogs that protect livestock. The information in today's newsletter provides insight into this successful, long-term wildlife conservation solution.  

A livestock guardian dog is a type of pastoral dog bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators. Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability to guard their herd is mainly instinctive, as the dog is bonded to  the herd from an early age. Unlike the often smaller herding dogs that control the movement of the livestock, livestock guardian dogs blend in with them, watching for intruders within the flock. The mere presence of a guardian dog is usually enough to ward off some predators, and livestock guardian dogs will confront predators by vocal intimidation, barking, and displaying very aggressive behavior. The dog may attack or fight with a predator to protect the flock, if they are not able to drive predators off otherwise. 

Human-carnivore conflict is a leading world-wide threat to carnivore species. In South African farmlands, conflict is rife and often arises from carnivore predation on livestock. This leads to retaliatory killing of suspected carnivores. Predation, the preying of one animal on another, can undoubtedly have a serious economic impact on people, and a wider impact on agricultural production and rural development. However, indiscriminate lethal control poses a significant threat to South Africa's remaining carnivore populations, especially for the 32% of species that are threatened or near threatened. The purpose of this project is to assist South African farmers in preventing damage to livestock by the use of livestock guarding dogs - a non-lethal control method. This prevents the use of other lethal control methods such as poison, gin traps and killer traps that have a negative impact on carnivore populations and South Africa's biodiversity. This is a long-term solution that secures valuable habitat for carnivore populations on farmland in South Africa.