As the sinking sun pulled shadows over Kenya’s vast Tsavo landscape, Joseph Kyalo Kimaile watched four painted dogs drinking from a drying water hole. Last year, this pack had 18 individuals, and now only four remained. He didn’t know what happened to the others, so as Tsavo Trust’s Chief Conservation Officer, he was determined to keep these four dogs safe. Painted dogs are his favorite animal, and with support from the Painted Dog Fund, a new Wildlife Fund launched by the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) and the Painted Wolf Foundation (PWF), Kyalo has a better chance of protecting Tsavo’s remaining painted dog packs.
Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks are the largest in Kenya, and both are found within the wider Tsavo Conservation Area, one of the world’s largest wildlife sanctuaries. Lions, rhinos, and “Big Tusker” elephants all call this landscape home. Painted dogs also reside in Tsavo, although their numbers have widely fluctuated as they repeatedly succumb to snaring, disease, and human-wildlife conflict. Until recently, this endangered predator seemed to be doing well here, but their population is now in rapid decline. No one yet knows why and there are no safeguards in place within the parks to protect the species.
Tsavo Trust has had incredible success over the past decade conserving elephants and rhinos, and are now turning their attention to Tsavo’s painted dogs. In 2023, Kyalo and his colleagues approached PWF for support, and the two organizations have been working together for the past year to develop a sustainable conservation strategy for the species. This strategy will help Kyalo’s team understand the dynamics of resident packs and the attitudes of nearby communities that share this landscape with the painted dogs. This species requires very specific conservation approaches, and Kyalo’s team needed expert advice and significant funding to implement these approaches across this vast region.
The Painted Dog Fund is investing in Tsavo Trust to bring long-term hope to painted dogs in both parks. With their new grant and by working with PWF, Tsavo Trust can better monitor and protect the area’s remaining packs and launch an extensive rabies vaccination program for domestic dogs among local communities to help prevent the disease from spreading to painted dogs or other wildlife. Strategies like these are key to species recovery. By funding projects that directly protect the species, restore and bolster security in their rangelands, and encourage field-based collaborations between conservationists, communities, and land management agencies, the Painted Dog Fund aims to double the number of painted dogs across Africa over the next 30 years.
With the sun now set, the four painted dogs left the water hole to begin the night’s hunt. Kyalo watched them vanish into the brush with a renewed sense of hope. For too long, he felt powerless to defend these incredible canines, but now he sees a light at the end of the tunnel for his favorite animal. Thanks to the Painted Dog Fund, he knows his team will have the funding and resources they need to give Tsavo’s painted dogs a brighter future.