African wild dog dispersal and implications for management

Successful conservation of species that roam and disperse over large areas requires detailed

understanding of their movement patterns and connectivity between subpopulations. But empirical information

on movement, space use, and connectivity is lacking for many species, and data acquisition is

often hindered when study animals cross international borders. The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)

exemplifies such species that require vast undisturbed areas to support viable, self‐sustaining populations.

To study wild dog dispersal and investigate potential barriers to movements and causes of mortality during

dispersal, between 2016 and 2019 we followed the fate of 16 dispersing coalitions (i.e., same‐sex group of

≥1 dispersing African wild dogs) in northern Botswana through global positioning system (GPS)‐satellite

telemetry. Dispersing wild dogs covered ≤54 km in 24 hours and traveled 150 km to Namibia and 360km

to Zimbabwe within 10 days. Wild dogs were little hindered in their movements by natural landscape

features, whereas medium to densely human‐populated landscapes represented obstacles to dispersal.

Human‐caused mortality was responsible for >90% of the recorded deaths. Our results suggest that a

holistic approach to the management and conservation of highly mobile species is necessary to develop

effective research and evidence‐based conservation programs across transfrontier protected areas, including

the need for coordinated research efforts through collaboration between national and international

conservation authorities.