Painted Dog Conservation

Organization

End of Year

Report

2014

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Executive Summary: By Peter Blinston If 2013 was “the year of the goat,” was 2014 “the year of the painted dog?” I refer to 2013 as “the year of the goat” because, as many of you may remember, a village elder in Makwandara took the unusual stance of refusing to harm the painted dog that killed his goat. His change in attitude and behavior was a direct response to the many benefits his community had received from PDC. So back to the question “was 2014 the year of the painted dog?” I feel that in many ways it was, and so much of what will be detailed below was achieved because of your phenomenal support. Support that is so vital and hugely appreciated. During the year we received reports of packs in locations that have not seen dogs for more than 10 years, and of packs numbering 20 (including pups) in the Hwange Main Camp area. This is a positive indication that the painted dogs are managing to thrive, particularly inside Hwange National Park. The story outside Hwange National park is somewhat less positive and I’ll touch on that below. 2014 was also a momentous year for PDC. We embarked on some necessary restructuring that resulted in much needed collaborations with the other long-term professional research organizations operating in Hwange National Park. It was very refreshing and rewarding to work closely with organizations such as the Hwange Lion Research project headed by Dr. Loveridge and the two French research institutions CIRAD and CNRS 1, headed by Dr. Bourgarel and Dr Fritz, respectively. I certainly look forward to continuing these collaborations in the years ahead. As part of this restructuring at PDC we established a panel of renowned scientists as advisors, which included the above as well as Dr. Esther van der Meer, Dr. Hillary Madzikanda and Professor Claudio Sillero. Under their guidance we established focused objectives for research and new protocols for data collection that have improved the efficiency of our field staff headed, of course, by the “legendary” Jealous Mpofu, the proud recipient of the Disney Wildlife Conservation Hero Award and the van Tienhoven Award for Conservation. PDC continues its role as a significant stakeholder and leader in wildlife conservation. We hosted a Trans Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA) workshop, which had a theme of “Lets Talk about One Health and TFCA’s.” In addition, PDC was privileged to participate in and contribute to, all of the Hwange National Park Management Plan workshops as well as the Elephant Management Plan workshop.

1 CIRAD: French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development) is a public industrial and commercial enterprise (EPIC) under the joint authority of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. CNRS: French National Centre for Scientific Research. 2

Multi Tasking: Maria Njamba

Strengthening our core human resource capabilities has long been a priority for me and I was pleased to appoint four new staff members in 2014 plus create the new position of Operations Manager. The new Operations Manager will join us on February 1, 2015 and take over the daily responsibilities of the project, enabling me to focus more on long-term strategic planning and international development. I was also delighted to receive the news Dominic Nyathi: In full flow! towards the end of the year that Dominic Nyathi, our Education Officer, has been accepted into the highly prestigious Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders program in Florida. It’s a great credit to him and to PDC and I would like to take this opportunity to again thank the following organizations who made this possible: Houston Zoo, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Division of International Conservation, White Oak, Wildlife Conservation Network, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System, International Fund for Animal Welfare and Defenders of Wildlife.

Mechanic: Last Marozhe. Keeping everything rolling along.

Another key component in building our capacity has been actual building itself. Thanks, on the whole, to the remarkable generosity of Diane and Ted Johnson, we were able to complete our Base Camp/staff housing complex. The complex now includes enough housing on PDC land for all of our staff plus visiting students as well as some much needed renovations to areas such as the Children’s Bush Camp, Rehabilitation

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Facility and our Visitors Centre. It was particularly satisfying to have a new solar system installed at the Visitors Centre, which also happens to be our office, so now we can actually get a day’s work done without the constant interruption of power cuts! Our Education Programs, led by Wilton Nsimango, continue to provide the hope for the future. In 2014 we hosted more than 1000 children, taking the total since the program began to more than 8900 children. With your support, we are investing in our local children to ensure that they grow up with, at the very least, an understanding for and appreciation of the wildlife with which they co-exist. We are confident that some of them will go on to do much more.

The highlight of the year was once again the Special Camp, held in November for the 44 children who stood out during the course of the year. The Kids Cameras Conservation aspect was again featured. This fantastic concept brings the children even closer to wildlife through photography and was made extra special this year because of the donation of cameras that enabled each child to have his / her own camera.

I love to hear the stories from the Bush Camp that illustrate how it is changing lives. Beauty Sibanda (age 14) attended one of our Special Camps during the year and she wrote “I am one of those students who wanted to drop Mathematics and Science but now I have got an idea that these are the only tools that I can use to make a change to my future.” Her classmate Thembelihle Ndlovu (age 14) wrote the following poem while attending the Bush Camp: So why do people want this to be extinct? We don‘t even know the reason why bore-holes are drilled and Clinics are constructed! But why do such a thing? Iganyana Bush Camp helps By teaching children But why are we not thankful? Together we should stand And fight for the painted dog. Because once it becomes extinct, The future generation won‘t know about it. I cry, I cry, I cry Lets conserve the painted dogs and do not let them be extinct. Because one day we will all cry for it once it becomes extinct. Given the right guidance and opportunity these children will go on to become influential figures in their society and they will make a difference to the lives of the painted dogs and other wildlife around them.

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I was pleased to be able to strengthen our Anti-Poaching Unit operations with the introduction of monitoring and evaluation software called SMART 2. We hosted the training workshop for this, which was also rolled out to the Hwange Lion Research Anti Poaching Unit. Our commitment to Zimbabwean students also remains strong and it was a pleasure to host seven students from four different Universities, on internships during the year. We launched a third successful vaccination program in June, focusing on the local domestic dog populations, with more than 800 domestic dogs being vaccinated against rabies and canine distemper. This program, which helps prevent the spread of these deadly diseases into the wildlife populations while also protecting the local human populations (from rabies), was carried out in conjunction with Wildlife Vets International. Forgie “Frogs” Wilson, PDC’s Assistant Manager, has worked tirelessly on developing the HIV / AIDS program, which we run in partnership with Wild 4 Life. This award-winning program reaches more than 15,000 individuals within the local communities and is a major factor in our ability to leverage the attitudinal change we see towards the dogs into the behavioral change that will eventually pay dividends in creating that desired place where the painted dogs can thrive. As always though, at the end of the day, it’s about the dogs. Those of you who follow our Facebook page will have read about the Christmas Eve adventures involving the capture of an injured dog called Birmingham and his current rehabilitation at our facilities. He has debilitating bite wounds on his leg and was unable to keep up with the pack, which is relatively small in number being four adults and three pups, and so they cannot protect him. I felt it was only a matter of time before he would fall victim to a lion attack. Thus I made the decision to bring him into our facilities where he can safely recover. He is well on the way to a full recovery now and it won’t be long before I release him back to his pack. In September I wrote about the significance of saving one dog’s life. In that case it was the life of Vusile and I detailed her contribution to the painted dog population as a whole. Life on the front line of conservation is rarely smooth and we deal with tragedies on an almost daily basis. I know from many of your personal comments and from the market research undertaken by Sherry Paul that you don’t

2 SMART: Spacial Monitoring and Reporting Tool 5 like to hear about these tragedies too often. So I will simply say that a lioness killed Vusile in October. I actually can’t write anymore than that anyway because it’s too painful for me. My trip into Mana Pools in November, to remove the collar on the Vundu Pack alpha female, Tait, was probably one of the highlights of the year. Being able to remove her collar was such a rewarding experience and I’m quite sure the look she gave me afterwards was one saying thank you! That’s one of the special features of working with the dogs. They seem to know that you’re trying to help them. They “get it,” when it really matters, In some sense, this is similar to our relationship with you, our supporters. I feel that you, too, “get it,” i.e., understand what we are trying to achieve with our hard work and you appreciate that it’s not a smooth road we are travelling. You know that it’s a long steep hill with potholes and loose shale. We are bound to fall and stumble occasionally but you help get us back on our feet. I love the questions you ask and the comments you make because they challenge and inspire us to keep going, and demonstrate to me that you really care about our journey here. Without you none of this would be possible and the painted dogs would almost certainly have taken several more steps towards extinction. Please know that it is you who are keeping them alive and helping us create an environment in which they can thrive. We cannot thank you enough. I know the painted dogs would thank you if they could!

Tait: Collar removed because it had served its purpose.

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Activities, Objectives and Indicators.

Strategy 1: Land and Water Management

Description of Strategy: Actions directed at conserving or restoring sites, habitats and the wider environment. The aim of this strategy is to protect and improve suitable habitats for Painted Dogs and their prey species in the Core Operating Area.

Factor(s) the Strategy Will Address: This strategy will address the Direct Threats of illegal hunting, wood collection / logging and pumping water in wildlife areas within the Core Operating Area.

Anti-Poaching Units / Patrols. By Enoch Zulu and Peter Blinston.

1. Overview:

2014 saw the launch of our Zero Tolerance to Wildlife Crime campaign. The campaign was kicked of following a workshop we hosted, held at Hwange National Park, Main Camp offices, attended by the Magistrate, Public Prosecutors, Police, National Parks and other stakeholders.

We had posters printed in all of the local languages and placed around the community. The initial response and reaction to the campaign was positive but overall the results have been disappointing and as ever we are evaluating this to see how we can improve things. I say this because we hoped to the campaign would lead to the arrest of poachers setting snares. While this didn’t happen it was pleasing to know that the campaign actually contributed to the arrest of elephant poachers. So certainly it was far from a failure.

We continue to work on a structured informants network and believe that that will ultimately deliver the desired results. Currently we have four informants who provide information on an adhoc basis.

A SMART (Spatial Monitoring and reporting Tool) technical training workshop organized by Peter Lindsey, Michelle Moeller from PANTHERA and Richard Bergi from North Carolina Zoo was conducted at the PDC Bush Camp in September. The workshop was a follow up to an initial workshop, which was held in Gonarezhou National Park, where the SMART management system was introduced. This second workshop was more in depth and more APU members were included, plus one from research and one from Education departments. Our Conservation Area map was set up and the Cyber Tracker for the TRIMBLE was plugged in. We introduced this technology in order to improve out ability to measure the effectiveness of our APU efforts. It’s a constant challenge to do this and the table below serves to illustrate why.

2014 Patrol Data:

TOTAL TOTAL SNARES ANIMALS ANIMALS POACHERS PATROLS RECOVERED KILLED RELEASED ARRESTED 217 1 556 32 2 5

If taken at face value these figures indicate that we carried our fewer patrols, recovered fewer snares, located fewer dead animals, released fewer live animals and arrested fewer poachers when compared to 2013. Was this a drop in performance? Certainly that’s the first question I asked, though of course I know the answers, and monitor this throughout the year.

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Indeed we conducted fewer patrols when compared to the 237 conducted in 2013. The SMART training was one of the factors as it kept the unit out of the filed for more than a week but more significantly was the increased work we did with National Parks, inside Hwange National Park (HNP), to combat the elephant poaching. We are mainly interested in poachers that kill painted dogs and their prey of course, however we are also a major stakeholder in HNP and our support was needed to help combat the threat of elephant poaching.

The number of snares collected is never an indicator of effectiveness. If an area is patrolled regularly and effectively then you will not find any snares because none are being set and that’s the whole purpose of anti poaching patrols. It’s a preventative tool. In 2014 we concentrated a lot more patrols on the PDC land and near by areas compared to 2013. So we recovered fewer snares and arrested fewer poachers because we were effective in protecting the area. It was only when we undertook strategic patrols into areas that are, on the whole, inadequately managed, did we recover snares and arrest poachers.

With sufficient funding in 2015 we will increase the number of APU scouts we employ so that we can cover a wider area on a more regular basis. There are some areas that need to be patrolled on a daily basis, without fail. Unfortunately they fall outside of our authority and sometimes we are denied access completely. I believe that five of the painted dogs, including two alpha females and one alpha male that went missing this year, were killed in snares in these locations. You know all about how the loss of just one dog can impact on the entire population.

I searched the areas from a helicopter but was unable to locate any of them. Leading me to conclude that the collars were damaged as the dog struggled in the snare or the poacher who found the dog dead in his snare smashed the collar. Our APU recovered one snared dog in the Sinamatella region to the west of us, following a report from National Parks.

Our APU found a further 31 animals dead in snares. These ranged from critical painted dog prey species such as kudu and impala, to elephants and guinea fowl. The estimated value of all of these animals is calculated at $215,000.

Intervention and Treatment of Individual Dogs: By Peter Blinston.The value of our superb Rehabilitation Facility, which was built by John Lemon, was further highlighted again this year when I brought the injured “Birmingham” in so that he could safely recover from his debilitating bite wounds.

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Dr. Esther van der Meer was on hand to remove a snare from the female in the Tariro pack named “MK”. Luckily his protective collar had done its job and the wounds were superficial, thus he did not need to spend any recovery time in our Rehabilitation Facility. He is currently carrying superficial wounds inflicted by a snare again, but no intervention is required.

A Total of seven VHF collars were fitted in 2014. Blood samples were taken from each dog for DNA analysis. And Taits collar was removed!

Strategy 2. Species Management.

Description of Strategy: Actions directed at managing or restoring species, focused on the species of concern itself

Factor(s) the Strategy Will Address: Aimed at reducing the Direct Threats of road kills, shooting Painted Dogs, illegal hunting, frequency and intensity of veldt fires, and trafficking of Painted Dogs.

Research Activities: Overall Synopsis. By Peter Blinston

• Packs. Based on the data obtained, a total count of all known packs in the HNP for the period January 2014 to December 2014 is 15, consisting of 86 adult / yearling dogs and 31 pups. An additional eight packs consisting of 37 adults / yearlings and five pups were recorded during the period 2012 – 2013 but not seen in 2014, however it is believed that they still exist. The

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sighting of the New Guvalala pack on December 30th serves to illustrate this point perfectly because that pack was previously seen in early 2012. Further it is estimated that an additional five packs consisting of approximately 25 adults / yearlings exist in un-surveyed regions of HNP.

Based on photographs received in 2014, we also believe that significant dispersal from the Mabuyamabhema, Lukosi and Gurangwenya packs took place in 2013 / 2014 resulting in the drop in those pack sizes. This rather than any high mortality because its unlikely that these packs would suffer such high mortality in such a short period of time.

The HNP population is thus estimated currently at 149 adults in 28 packs. Thus comparable to the numbers for the late 1990’s and as such is encouraging.

• Fecal Analysis. An analysis of painted dog scats during the year from five packs indicates prey preference of dogs in HNP ecosystem for kudu in larger packs (>five adults) and duiker in smaller packs (

In 2014 two packs (Nyamandlovu and Jozi) were recorded at one stage consisting of 20 individuals each, though this included pups. It is the first time in more than 15 years that packs of this size have been recorded in the Hwange Main Camp region.

Concern remains regarding the number of small packs consisting of 2 or 3 individuals and their apparent failure to produce any pups in 2014. It is commonly believed that there needs to be a core of five or more adults for packs to thrive and rear pups.

Also of interest this year was the close proximity of the packs, in particular the Nyamandlovu and Makwa packs overlapped considerably and we received a number of reports of the packs being seen within a few hundred meters of each other. The Nyamandlovu pack has used an area in access of 900 square kilometers, while the Makwa pack has used an area of roughly half that size. Nevertheless they have overlapped around the Main Camp, Makwa Pan and Kennedy One areas frequently as can be seen from the map below. We can only speculate on the reason for this, with availability of prey perhaps being the primary reason.

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MAP 1: Gurangwenya, Nyamandlovu, Tariro and Makwa pack territory. (Provided by Dr. Esther van der Meer)

Mortalities/ Threats

To date road kills, rail kills and snaring have been the major anthropogenic causes of mortality among painted dogs in Hwange. In the current reporting period ten such mortalities were recorded.

• Three pups from the Nyamandlovu pack were run over and killed by a goods train at Kennedy siding in October. • Also in October an adult dog was found snared in the Pongolo area of Sinamatella. • The Kanondo pack lost a dog due to a road kill along the Bulawayo/Vic Falls highway and • Another dog was killed by a vehicle between Hwange and Vic Falls. • The Makwa pack lost the Alpha male and alpha female to snaring in the Dete area. • The Tariro Pack lost two females to snaring incidents in the Dete / Forestry / Mabale area.

Lions killed the alpha female of the Sisele pack and at least two pups from the Makwa Pack.

While dogs killed on the roads and indeed by the train are tragic accidents the snaring incidents outside of HNP pose a significant threat not only to the dogs but their prey species, which are the usual targets. Our APU data shows the high number of snares recovered on the poorly managed farms. PDC has been running APU in these locations since 2001. Our estimate is that ten per cent of snares set actually kill. The data for 2014 shows that we recovered 1556 snares, thus it is likely that 155 animals may have been killed in snares during the year. It is not likely that we recover all of the snares set. Thus the numbers of animals killed is surely much higher.

What is also apparent is that regular (daily) patrols of an area are very effective in protecting it.

The loss of one individual painted dog may not seem significant but this changes dramatically when one considers that a single alpha female can produce more than 40 pups in her life time and those 40 pup can go onto produce 40 pups themselves, so a single individual if

11 allowed to flourish can contribute more than 200 dogs to the population.

Inadequate land management practices in the Gwaai and Forestry contribute enormously to the problem and as such the Gwaai remains a critical sink for the Painted Dogs. Historically more than seven packs utilized the Gwaai Conservancy and Forestry while currently we only have evidence of two packs (Tariro and Kanondo)

Sightings by Quarter Degree Square maps (QDS) are being collected with data for HNP, Gwaai, Victoria Falls, Matetsi, Mana Pools, SAVE / GNP being collated. Results so far record sightings in 88 QDS.

Peter Blinston made a brief excursion into Mana Pools in November to remove a collar from the alpha female of the Vundu pack. The trip was a success and the collar was removed.

The map below (provided by Dr. Esther van der Meer) illustrates the information collected from the collar. From the map it is clear that the pack moved well beyond the and did not spend its entire time within Mana Pools. Thus it serves to illustrate that sympathetic management, such as quota setting, of areas adjacent to Protected areas is essential if wide ranging species such as painted dogs are to thrive.

MAP 2: Movements of the Vundu pack.

Rehabilitation Facility: by Fannuel Nsingo and Peter Blinston.

2014 was relatively a busy year for the Rehabilitation Facility in terms of activities. We received a great number of visitors, from the international and local communities as well as the children from the Bush Camp. Our guided educational tours allow us to spread the awareness and conservation

12 messages to every visitor. During the tours we have noticed a lot of ignorance towards painted dogs and its prey species and of course other animals, mostly from the local community, so we were pleased to be in a position to address this.

Intervention guidelines established by Painted Dog Conservation, will enhance pack integrity, leading to an increase in the population of dogs throughout the country and Africa as a whole. Some of the guidelines include rehabilitating injured dogs, snare removal, and treatment of painted dogs in the wild, pack formations from orphaned Painted Dogs or the translocation of perceived problem packs into safe areas.

Headlining the success of the Rehabilitation Facility in 2014 is the successful release of Aurora in August. For number of weeks we were opening the gates to give her time out of the enclosure and an opportunity to bond her with MK and Surf (the Tariro Pack). It finally paid off as the pack accepted her to be part of their group on August 6, 2014. Ever since her release, she has been doing very well. On rare occasions we have seen them around the rehab. We believe that they are having very successful hunts because whenever we see them, they all look full, a clear sign that they are hunting successfully. We have been receiving some more exciting news about them, mostly from guests staying at the Hwange Safari Lodge who have witnessed them taking down some kudus and Impalas by the watering hole in front of the lodge. We are hoping that they carry on with great success.

The Facility is still home to the ageing John and Romany, who provide a source education and awareness talks to our many and varied visitors. They both undertake daily enrichment exercises to stimulate them, such as pot feeding (meat is placed in a clay pot and they have to work out how to get it out!). John is very old and we actually thought he would not survive the cold winter. However he did but the question will some have to be answered again. We are currently talking to the European Zoos about having a representative pack of dogs at the facility for educational purposes.

As mentioned above Birmingham, from the Makwa pack is recovering from his injuries at our Facility. Following the reports from the Hide about the injured dog, on the 17th of December 2014 our research team managed to observe him and they discovered that the dog was Birmingham from the Makwa Pack. He is estimated to be around 4 years of age. He was badly injured and limping on his front left leg. Dr. Chris Foggin and Dr. Gerard Stevenage were contacted on the 18th of December and it was suspected that Birmingham was suffering radial nerve damage. Birmingham was then darted and brought to the facility on December 24th, 2014. He is now collard with collar no.34. On arrival, he could not put any pressure or weight on his leg. He has improved a lot since his arrival and now is running on all four legs. He will soon be re released back to his pack in the wild where he belongs. Additional practical training in vet lab techniques and methodologies is carried out by all the rehab staff and with students attached to the organization from different universities. The value of this training is well represented to some primary and secondary school children who visit the rehab. We teach children on how to collect fecal samples for analysis. After collecting the feces the children will have the chance to have a look at the specimen through a microscope and learn to enter data into the computer.

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They love it and in the process learnt a great deal about hands on conservation and research work.

Strategy 3: Education and Awareness. By Wilton Nsimango, Forgie Wilson, Dominic Nyathi and Peter Blinston.

Description of Strategy: Actions directed at people to improve understanding and skills, and influence behavior.

Factor(s) the Strategy Will Address: Aimed at reducing the Direct Threats of road kills, shooting Painted Dogs, wood collection and logging, the impact of mines and dams, illegal hunting, and the frequency and intensity of veldt fires.

HIV / AIDS Program. By Forgie Wilson and Dominic Nyathi.

2014 has been another long, strenuous and fruitful year for the HIV program through mobilization, cooperation and dedication. The population for the clinic catchment stands at 16960. The mission of the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is to support, promote health in all aspects, advocate and facilitate the provision of quality health services and care to all the people of Zimbabwe and at the same time maximizing the utilization of available resources. It then provides expertise in organizing the health systems so that every Zimbabwean has access to a comprehensive package of health services based on need. PDC/W4L helps through the provision of expertise and improvement of health centers and resources for quality and motivated services in the core operating area.

The New Ambulance Handed over

The New Year brought relief to the communities through the availability of the ambulance. The brand new Ford Ranger was handed over to the Ministry and HRDC on the 14th of January 2014 at a function that was held at the PDC’s Iganyana Bush Camp. Chief Nelukoba and Chief Nekatambe attended the function where the District Health Executive based in Victoria Falls, National Parks, two nurses from each of our five clinics, HRDC officials, ward councilors, Village Heads and local stakeholders were present. The ambulance service

14 completes the improved circuit on relaying patients in the cooperating area to St. Patrick’s hospital in Hwange. The different speakers and stakeholders praised PDC for the great move in improving the health systems and protection of wildlife in the area. The two chiefs were very grateful and challenged other organizations present to emulate having their staff and communities they are operating in at heart. PDC/W4L spokesperson, Dominic Nyathi, challenged the participants towards stopping wildlife crimes. Mabale Conservation club pupils had a poetry presentation on the theme; “My life, my children and the painted dog’s life are equally important. Act now to protect them!”

Apart from regular clinic operations, renovations and refurbishment of nurse’s accommodation, PDC/W4L funded the transport and surgery for two young Dete-area children with hydrocephalus at a children’s hospital in Lusaka, . The surgical costs were donated by the hospital. PDC coordinators went above the call of duty to provide logistics (including passports) and organize arrangements. Praise (7) from Magoli area and Ngqobitha (3) from Cross Dete, who are now in stable conditions also got wheelchairs to move around. Life changing for these children, a theme very close to our hearts.

Carrying on with the theme of changing PDC/W4L provided logistical support for a U.S. team of ophthalmologists visited Vic Falls and rural Hwange clinics in February. They examined 1,032 patients, distributed 1,400 pairs of eyeglasses, identified 108 patients for cataract surgery, and distributed a year’s worth of Vitamin A (17,000 doses) to cover all children in Hwange District under age 5 for a year.

52 people from PDC supported clinics were taken to Bulawayo Richard Morris Eye Hospital in August 2014 by Frogs and Dominic. 35 patients had eye operations while 17 were treated and released. 26 of the 35 had their sight restored after the successful eye operations.

The grand children that came to wait for the last group could not believe it when they saw their grandads with restored eyesight.

Our twice-yearly outreach road show to the remotest populations serviced a total of 11 villages over nine days in April and December, attracting more than 9,200 attendees, which is 54.24% of population in our Core Operating Area. Our aim was to raise awareness and knowledge on the plight of painted dogs and it’s through this program that we are able to reach the highest percentage of the population. Delivering our conservation messages and “Zero Tolerance to Wildlife Crime!” It’s through this life changing work that we hope to leverage the behavioral change we need to save the painted dogs.

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Education & Community Development Programs End of Year report-2014 By Wilton Nsimango (Education & Community Development Programs Manager)

Introduction: Quite a busy year has gone by with a lot of pressure from several fronts especially the new form 2 program which was a first and presented opportunities to prove our readiness for any program worth engaging. The report contains mostly of the overview of what transpired over the year with more emphasis on the major highlights as most content has been give in the monthly reports during the year.

Each objective as agreed in the year plan will be dealt with, specifically evaluating the outputs and commenting on the outcomes. The final part of the report shall endeavor to highlight the future projections, which will be in line with the 2015-year plan.

OBJECTIVE 1: By the end of 2013, 19(local schools) 21 bush-camps comprising the free of charge 4-day children’s program plus 1 Kids for Science special camp and 6 donor schools conducted professionally to increase awareness and better understanding of ecological concepts.

This year was another success story for the bush camp program with quite a number of developments taking place in and out of the camp. This was the period in the life of the program where a survey was conducted to assess the impact of all PDC activities in our core operating area, the results were scrutinized and then decisions are yet to be made on the way forward. The bush camp program was rated by the majority of the respondents (50%) as the top most where community members have actively participated; the extract from the survey is shown below.

Projects breakdown

community projects childrens' bushcamp health projects other

3%

18% 29%

50%

There was a new grade six classes introduced this year from Makwandara Primary, their inclusion was a result of a positive attitude shown by the community in the year 2013 whereby painted dogs in their area killed a goat. The big class had a good time although there was a language barrier, as the children didn’t learn Ndebele at school, they learnt Nambya.

This was the year when a new camp was designed for secondary schools, which was meant to evaluate Strategic Plan Objective 3.15, the camp was for a selected forty form 2 students from the 4 secondary

16 schools in the area, Nechilibi, Dampa, Detema and Makwandara, the aim being to assess the level of intake on the science subjects offered at O level in the coming year, results will be derived in February 2015.

A third Special Camp was conducted this year, featuring the best two children from each school from the year. The highlight of this camp was again the Kids Cameras Conservation. Thanks to generous support the children didn’t have to share the cameras as each child in the pack was given his/her own, which improved the experience and the photography. Thanks to Sherry Paul once again for the guidance and all the lessons, which were for both pupils and staff at PDC.

Most of the lessons were conducted much better this period compared to last year, the children were very enthusiastic, especially Mambanje which has constantly been difficult to engage and motivate, the guides worked very hard to make the classes understand the concepts and as well as enjoy their stay.

Free Of Charge Bush Camp Program Total Number of Free of Charge Bush Camps so far this year: 22 Total Number of Free of Charge Bush Camps since program began: 222 Total Number of students attending Bush Camp so far this year: 789 Total Number of students attending Bush Camp since program began: 7199

In 2014, unlike last year when we hosted educators from other organizations internationally, the Education Programs manager visited Proyecto-Titi project in Colombia to learn more about how they evaluate their education programs and how they conduct Titi-Clubs in the schools. This was a worthwhile exchange of ideas with educators there as it came up clear how much they emphasize the titis in their lessons. The trip was funded by WCN and we thank them very much for this gesture, we are looking forward to host even more educators and even visit more organizations through this exchange program.

OBJECTIVE 2: To develop effective a partnership with government bodies (AGRITEX) and NGO’s linking them with recognized community needs in line with PDC’s Community Development objectives in improving livelihoods.

Most of the year was spent with garden projects trying to implement the gains from the ”look and learn” activity, which PDC engaged them with Lupane State University garden in Dete the previous year. Lupote once again had a good harvest of onion crop, which they had planted and monitored using the knowledge gained. There is still the problem of marketing the produce, which needs to be dealt with by individual communities.

While the water situation was dire for Mabale and Lupote during the period in question with the boreholes breaking down, it was realized how important the pump-minder training given to locals had helped solve the stressful situation.

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There was an Agricultural Show at Ndangababi this year after having stopped these competitions for farmers some 16 years ago. Interestingly members from the Mabale garden project scooped most of the prizes which included wheelbarrows donated by PDC.

Generally the year was not as busy with lots of concentration in the fields as communities did not harvest much from the fields; hence there were no sales from the conservation farmers as compared to the previous years. The farmers have been encouraged to approach the local AGRITEX officer who can help them with fresh ideas on better crop production strategies

OBJECTIVE 3: To increase awareness on dogs and nature through well-managed Outreach Education programs through Conservation Clubs by way of 12 monthly field visits and 4 staff develops meetings.

Conservation activities during the year Number of Conservation Clubs in the Primary schools 17 Number of Conservation Clubs in the Secondary schools 5 Number of impromptu speech competitions for secondary schools 1 Number of Quiz Competitions conducted this year 5 Number of Clean-up campaigns (general) 2 Number of Clean-up campaigns () 1 Number of Nature corners in the schools 17 Number of Tree Planting activities in the clubs 3 Number of Performing Arts Competitions conducted 5 Number of World Wildlife Day commemoration 1 Number of World Rhino Day 1 Number of Gulley reclamation activities by Clubs 7 Number of Nutrition/Herbs gardens run by the clubs 6

The lessons and other conservation activities were conducted diligently once again with a new competition (Impro Speech) coming into the fray in the secondary schools section. The lessons were based on the commemoration of that month, for example during the November period most lessons were on tree planting and preparations were for the big events where schools would engage in tree planting. It was of interest to note how schools donated trees for planting to those without the particular tree e g Sir Roy Welensky donated mango trees to Dopota while Dopota gave Songwa sisal plants for their live fencing project.

The competitions went quite well once again with Hankano and St Francis Xavier traveling to the provincial competitions in the wildlife quiz in Bulawayo representing Matabeleland North, as stated above earlier, a new competition in the form of impro speech was introduced in secondary schools. This was quite a success with schools indicating that their children are now more confident in public speaking when it comes to other national competitions. The judges came from other organizations, which included Parks and Wildlife, UNICEF and EMA, it is hoped that this will continue in the coming year with even better performances displayed.

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OBJECTIVE 4: To improve staff performance through two teachers and guides training workshops conducted 1 each term in the year 2014. This was a failure year as not much was achieved in this area; there was one teacher’s workshop at Hankano and no guides training was conducted due to the busy schedule. The need to train more guides and give teachers even better teaching skills in our core operating area should be our priority in the coming year, however it is good to mention that Melusi Sibanda whom I had recommended for permanent engagement has been brought into the full staff compliment at the bush camp, meaning that we will only need one freelance guide when ever we have a 3 pack class.

OBJECTIVE 5: To have marketed the bush camp program to 10 donor schools in and around Zimbabwe. While the number of additional schools went down to 7 this year, it was a success in terms of additional funding generated by the Bush Camp due largely to the World Vision IGATE3 program that occupied most of July and August. One new school from Hwange town (Megawatt Primary) came to the Bush Camp and straight away booked for their 2015 grade six class. It is hoped that more schools will be willing to book the camp. Another blessing went to the orphaned group from Alpha Cottages, who came this year for the first time such a trip, thanks to PDC-UK.

The Camp was also used for training sessions for the HIV Program and the APU. Thus all available weeks were occupied in what was the busiest year ever for the Bush Camp. The drive to have more schools coming to the camp is still intense and the service provided has always been self-advertising for the bush camp program.

ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS

Total Number of Camps so far this year: 7 Total Number of Camps since program began: 45

Total Number of Students so far this year: 282 Total Number of students attending Bush Camp since program began: 1772

Future projections: The education and community development program is looking forward to start the coming year with more emphasis on the need to align the activities of the local community equating with what PDC does for them. The strategic plan, which has been put in place, will again assist direct operations as the document spells out what is the aim of PDC, it is within this scope that all the year plans and objectives set will be guided towards the success of the education drive.

There in need to engage more the community on PDC programs in area like cleanup campaigns and Agric shows.

It is hoped that the construction of the staff houses at the camp will be complete and the issue of driving the ladies to and from the Airport will be dealt with.

The education team generally worked very well this year and hopes to do even better in the coming year as a way of achieving the set objectives.

3 Improving Girls' Access through Transforming Education (IGATE) 19

Arts and Crafts Program. By Agnes Ncube and Wendy Blakely.

2014 was a challenging year for the Art Centre because of production demands and staff issues. Though production demands actually dropped the staff issues made it difficult to keep up. Ironically the lack of snares or rather snares made from suitable material is presenting more and more of a challenge. The majority of snares collected are from the copper telephone lines and so they cannot be used for the craft production, thus we are looking far and wide for snares from other organizations, including National Parks.

Despite the challenges though we kept on track with performance indicators, which saw the average income for our artisans being $214 per month, thus $26 more than the target figure. Our second target is the percentage of items made from wood and by the end of the year only 6% of the items we make were being made from wood, which is ahead of the target of 10%.

Another pleasing aspect of the year was the addition of five new artisans to help with production. While it takes time to orientate them and get their work up to standard it pays off in the end.

The center is becoming more and more of an attraction for International visitors, who like to observe the artisans at work and buy crafts directly. This also presents an opportunity to spread awareness about the painted dogs.

Strategy 4: Law and Policy. By Peter Blinston

Description of Strategy: Actions to develop, change, influence, and help implement formal legislation, regulations, and voluntary standards.

Factor(s) the Strategy Will Address: Aimed at reducing the Direct Threats of trafficking, road kills, disease, shooting Painted Dogs, illegal hunting, and the numbers of Kudu & Impala hunted on quota in safari areas and within Parks Estates.

Activity:

Implement Vaccination and Veterinarian Policies.

As you know, PDC aims to create an environment where the dogs can thrive and this requires constant engagement with the local communities. The threat of rabies is ever present, not to the painted dogs but to the people in the rural villages around us. Various schemes exist for dog owners to have their dogs vaccinated, however access to these services is always a challenge for the local community. With the support of Wildlife Vets International, we conducted vaccination programs with the Hwange District Veterinary Office (DVO) in 2010 and 2012, thus 2014 was time for a follow up. 20

During a hectic schedule we visited ten locations in four days and vaccinated more than 800 domestic dogs against rabies. The DVO’s conservative estimate was that this number represented more than 85% of the domestic dogs in the villages. Not only does this serve to reduce the risk of rabies being transmitted to the local people but it also serves to maintain a vital buffer between the domestic animals and the wildlife populations, minimizing the risk of rabies spreading into the wildlife population and the painted dog population in particular.

A fresh appeal was made in September to the Ministry of Transport for a reduction in the speed limits in our Core Operating Area.

The Lobby for having the painted dogs listed on CITES APPENDIX 1 has stalled due to lack of current pertinent evidence and we are not likely to take it up again.

Strategy 8: PDC Organizational Development. By Peter Blinston

Description of Strategy: Actions directed at PDC Core operational structure, facility maintenance and specifically development of infrastructure such as accommodation and essential facilities. This includes appointment of GM, Financial Controller / Accountant plus second in charge in key positions such as Bush Camp, tracking (Jealous) and building capacity in terms of field research capabilities.

Factor(s) the Strategy Will Address: Aimed at reducing the Direct Threat of a lack of capacity within PDC. Capacity Building: As mentioned above we recruited four new staff members in 2014, Fannuel Nsingo at the Rehabilitation Facility, Primrose Sibanda and Ryan Kanhema in the Administration Department and Melusi Sibanda as a Bush Camp Guide and assistant to Dominic Nyathi with the Conservation Clubs. We also appointed David Kuvawoga as Operations Manager, and he will commence work with us on February 1st, 2015. We also moved staff to new positions, notably Washington Moyo joined Jealous as his understudy to strengthen our daily painted dog monitoring capacity. In that regard we were also delighted that Dr. Hillary Madzikanda could join us regularly in the field, spearheading in particular the road and spoor survey work.

Wilton Nsimango visited Pryecto Titi in Columbia on the WCN Cross partner Internship Program and I was pleased to be accompanied by Jealous Mpofu on my two fundraising trips to the USA and Europe.

Lisette Gelber joined us at the end of the year to assist with in house training of our Administration staff, which supplements the training undertaken by Greg “ Gibby” Gibbard.

Construction of PDC Base Camp.

Our Base Camp construction is all but complete now. We have enough housing to accommodate all of our staff and visiting students. In addition to an excellent workshop and stores plus senior management housing. Solar systems in place for much of it (where practical) and refurbishment to the Rehabilitation Facility fence plus aspects of the Children’s Bush Camp. The last step is a few more rondavels at the Children’s Bush Camp to accommodate extra staff and children.

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It’s been an immense undertaking, with the burden of the work falling on Dought Nkomo’s shoulders. A burden he handles so well and with calm authority. It has been a real pleasure seeing him grow in stature and confidence over the years to become such a key member of our Management team.

New Staff housing, reliable fresh water supply from our own borehole, replacing mesh at the Rehabilitation Facility and replacing timbers at the Children’s Bush Camp kept Dought and his team very, very busy in 2014.

Moving into the houses has already saved us more than $16,000 dollars in rentals!!!

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List of Publications: Bi Monthly project updates, face book and Web site postings. Reports to ZPWMA on research activities are produced monthly. • Using an energetic cost–benefit approach to identify ecological traps: the case of the E. van der Meer, G. S. A. Rasmussen & H. Fritz • Ecological trap for African wild dogs: Esther van der Meer, Hervé Fritz, Peter Blinston and Gregory S.A. Rasmussen http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9202587&fileId= S0030605312001366 • Van der Meer, E., Moyo, M., Rasmussen, G.S.A. & Fritz, H. (2011). An empirical and experimental test of risk and costs of kleptoparasitism for African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) inside and outside a protected area. Behavioral Ecology 22, 985-992. • Ester van der Meer (2011). Testing the ecological trap hypothesis for African wild dogs in and around Hwange National park.

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