Three brothers from a pack of African wild dogs left their native Kafue park in the middle of the summer of 2025 and set off eastward. Over nine months they covered more than four thousand kilometres across the rugged terrain of Zambia, skirting towns, crossing rivers and avoiding snares. This is the longest known journey made by any African mammal in search of mates.
African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) live in tight family groups, where breeding between close relatives is impossible. Young males are forced to set off on long wanderings in order to find new females and found their own pack. The brothers from the Mayukuyuku pack, fitted with GPS collars, covered this route, apparently navigating by scents and avoiding densely populated areas.
In September of 2025 the brothers briefly met up with their sisters, who had also set off on the journey. The females covered about 1400 kilometres, but tragedy awaited them: one was caught in an illegal snare, and two others died. The males continued moving south, then turned east and in April of 2026 reached the Luangwa Valley.
The route ran through protected and unprotected areas, past farms, roads and reservoirs. The dogs display an astonishing ability to adapt to a fragmented landscape, yet every such journey carries enormous risk. According to the researchers' data, illegal snares remain the main threat to the species, whose numbers in the wild are estimated at around six thousand individuals.
A study published in the journal Ecology emphasises the importance of ecological corridors between national parks. Without them, even the hardiest animals risk failing to reach their goal. The brothers' journey shows that, given space, wild dogs are capable of covering vast distances and restoring populations in new areas.
Stories like this remind us how closely the fates of animals and the state of natural landscapes are intertwined. Every successful journey is not only evidence of the species' resilience but also a signal of the need to preserve the connectivity of ecosystems.
Protecting corridors between protected areas helps wild dogs find mates and survive.
