Greg Rasmussen founded and runs Painted Dog Conservation (PDC), based in Zimbabwe. PDC runs a childrens bush camp, anti poaching units, a wild dog rehabilitation facility and carries out a lot of valuable work to conserve the Painted Dog (also known as the African Wild Dog, or Cape Hunting Dog). In 2003 Greg was assisting the National Parks service by searching for a rhino using the PDC micro-light aircraft. Unfortunately he crashed and because he had moved out of the area where the rhino had been expected to be, the search for the crash was focussed in the wrong area. Greg suffered major injuries (breaking both legs in multiple places, as well as breaking his ankles and pelvis), but survived over 24 hours in the bush, despite close encounters with lion and hyena. Gregs accident was featured in a channel 4 program, “Alive”. Greg has since had a large number of operations and is now back working to conserve the dogs.
When and how did you first get involved with Painted Dogs?
Nearly 20 years ago when I offered to “help” on a research project. I realised the dogs were in a bad way and wanted to make a difference. So when the research project ended I started a conservation initiative.
Painted Dogs used to have a bad reputation (now proved to be unfounded) for attacking people. Did that worry you or your family when you first started studying these animals?
It worried my mother who read a book called “Wild dogs running” with the most awful sensationalist stuff on the dogs portraying them as savage and dangerous killers. It’s a pity that writers don’t use facts particularly as they can be very damaging to conservation.
With the painted dog traditionally viewed as a threat to livestock and pest/vermin (a similar fate shared by the cheetah) how does one go about changing a farmer's perception, and how receptive are they to your approaches?
In essence the change started with research where I demonstrated that the dogs were not putative cattle killers, that prejudice was the problem. I.e. the problem was a perceived one and not a real one - certainly not compared to other livestock losses such as cattle rustlers and disease.
How does PDC work with the local community? How much support do you get from the local communities ?
We provide a lot of employment and capacity building as well as have 1000 children per annum through our bush camp programme. Here they stay nearly a week, learn a lot about conservation and leave with an empathy for wildlife which is the main aim. After all real conservation is about having conservation minded people everywhere and not just a few people trying hard to make change in an ocean of deaf ears.
How has media exposure through such programmes as Channel 4s "Alive" (which detailed your microlight crash and subsequent recovery) assisted in bringing exposure to your work and that of PDC?
In reality, as usual, I don’t think it did much for us - as always film companies never help projects by making an appeal at the end of the film with a “you can help by donating” line.
Do you envisage flying (either microlight or light aircraft) again in the future to track the wild dogs ? How likely are your colleague to allow you to do this without protest?
Nobody will let me fly again
We are now starting to use satellite GPS collars, but they are so expensive.How important to you is it to have a good team to work with?
Good conservation cannot happen without a diverse and dedicated team of people from all backgrounds and walks of life. This way one gets to get input from many different angles which is what conservation is all about.
You obviously rely on financial assistance from charitable trusts such as Predator Conservation Trust. How easy in the past has it been approaching such institutions and how has your own reputation as Greg Rasmussen aided such grant applications?
When I started for many years getting any money was like getting blood out of a stone. Not really surprising as the dogs had a bad reputation and I had no track record of success. In the early days funds were so low, I used to have to make a decision whether to put food in my stomach or fuel in the car. Usually the car won. Things have improved and we now have a dedicated team of people around the world that help in so many ways. As a consequence we have grown considerably and have a world class conservation project in Zimbabwe we are very proud of. It doesn’t stop here though as there are other dog population that are in dire need of help and funds permitting, we are intending to take the conservation model to those areas. As I write I have just been exploring Cameroon looking for dogs.
You have become a positive role model for many young people wanting to become conservationists: from your own vast experience what are the pitfalls and bonuses of following in your footsteps?
The biggest bonus is you feel fulfilled and have a reason to get up in the morning. The downside is that it is the sort of lifestyle that makes it difficult to have a family, and in reality you will spend your life trying to raise funds.
With the political problems in Zimbabwe, how has this affected the status of the wild dog there? Especially in terms of increased poaching and an obvious increasing disregard for the country's wildlife.
Whilst poaching is, and always will be a problem, it is probably less than in many other countries. Zimbabwe does not have disregard for wildlife, in fact the contrary is true. Painted dogs in Zimbabwe gain genuine recognition and where needed help from the authorities and this of course helps with conservation of the dogs.
How have the current difficulties affected PDC’s work?
Simply logistics such as getting fuel and supplies. Fortunately we get assistance from British airways that makes it possible to fly in essential equipment.
The average home range for a wild dog has been reported as over 750km2. How difficult then it is to track wild dogs over such an extensive area and what methods do you use to monitor their movements?
With satellite collars it is possible, but they are so expensive and in essence if a dog is injured we still need a plane to find them.
What is the single most important factor in your opinion that will ensure the survival and population increase of the painted dog?
Public empathy from communities that interact with the dogs to concerned individuals worldwide.
The Painted dog is the 2nd most endangered large carnivore in Africa: with such a low population believed to be between 3-5,000 across just four countries, and despite being legally protected both in Namibia and Zimbabwe the species is not listed on CITES. What is the reasoning for this and can you envisage their status changing? Do you believe a CITES listing will benefit the Painted Dog or is there insufficient international trade for it to have a significant impact?
The reason the dogs were not on CITES was that no trade was uncovered and where it was happening a blind eye was being turned. Sadly, Painted Dog Conservation identified that dogs were being dug out of the wild for operatives in South Africa for breeding from new bloodlines for zoos and animal collections. I hope the situation changes and that only dogs born in captivity can be traded. Furthermore there needs to be some control on where they are traded to as some of the facilities they are sent to worldwide, are inhumane.
With capture and translocation, how exactly does this work and how do the dogs adapt to their new habitats?
All dogs are sedated then held in an enclosure for 6 months at the release site. Once that is done the dogs usually settle quite quickly after exploring the new territory
What proportion of your time is taken up with fundraising and other similar activities, and how much time do you get to work with the dogs.
Far too much time fundraising and never enough time with the dogs.
Which of your/PDC’s achievements to date are you most proud of?
Our children’s bush camp. Ideally I would like to se them set up adjacent to many of the worlds national parks. It happens in most areas - the local communities never get to see their wildlife often because the areas are made inaccessible as they are designated for tourist or hunting purposes. Consequently it is no surprise that communities see no value in wildlife and consequently make no effort to conserve it.
How important to PDC is ongoing long term support from organisations such as Predator Conservation Trust, DSWF and Tusk?
Crucial. Without it dogs and many other species will disappear.
Some examples of how your donations can help…
US$ 20 buys a pair of boots for a member of the Anti Poaching Unit (APU)
US$ 100 feeds the dogs in the rehabilitation facility for a month
US$ 250 buys a protective collar for a painted dog
US$ 500 buys art supplies for the Art and Craft programme
US$ 1,400 will send a class of up to 45 children to the Children’s Bush Camp
US$ 5,000 buys 100 flying hours used for vital pack monitoring
To learn more about Painted Dog Conservation and its work, or to make a donation visit
Predator Conservation Trust
or
Painted Dog Conservation
Whew!! I was actually wincing and cringing while watching the reenactment. Man, oh man, what a miraculous survival!