Recent reports that a new pack of Painted Dogs, consisting of four males and three females, with one of the females collared, have delighted the Painted Dog Conservation team in Zimbabwe. Having experienced the tragedy of losing five of the seven dogs in the Bambanani pack - created from waifs and strays and released back into wild - the team were keen for good news.

The new pack was tracked down to a hide not far from the project headquarters and a male, now known as 'Bulls Eye' was darted and fitted with a GPS collar. 

"It was wonderful to find this new pack, the males unknown to us, and it was amazing to think how far and wide the females had roamed to find suitable pack mates," says project director Peter Blinston. " We named the pack Kutanga, which translates roughly as ‘something new’ and drove back to our base happy that a good days work had been done, eager for the downloads from the GPS collar to come in." 

For more on DSWF's work with the Painted Dogs in Zimbabwe click here