Projects We Support

Selected Project:  

African Predator Conservation Research Organization (APCRO) Kwando, Linyati Area, Botswana

 
» Bookmark or Share

Keystone Species Protection

WildiZe has provided funding for critical research on predator niche conservation including collaring programs to understand territorial patterns, food habits, and competition circles.   This is the first project of its kind looking at a diverse array of predators (lion, leopard, hyena, cheetah, wild dog) collared for data research.

Funds were specifically allocated to APCRO for the purchase of 25 multi-species carnivore satellite collars, software to track the subjects, and associated research fees to garner results for on-going conservation.  Understanding the relationship that these keystone species have to one another is important to understanding the dynamics of this and other ecosystems. This is a pioneering project with a pan-African perspective with the overall goal to examine the viability and health of African predators.

African Predator Conservation Research Organization (APCRO) consists of a diverse group of researchers, primarily from the fields of veterinary medicine and genetics, whose common goal is to gather knowledge and initiate original research projects examining carnivores in their natural environments.  These investigations examine the role of disease, genetics, reproductive potential, parasitism, nutrition and pathology and the role they play in the survivability of these species.


Photos ©Eli Weiss/ WildiZe Foundation (Wild Dog photos courtesy of National Geographic)


Project web site:  www.apcro.org

FAST FACTS: APCRO

Dr. Michael Briggs, D.V.M., Co-founder and CEO as well as Principal Investigator, with a Master's Degree in Veterinary medicine with an emphasis on aprasitology and theriogenology. He has worked in the field in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana with experience in game capture and focus on carnivores.

Beth Ament, C.V.T. Co-founder and Executive Administrator, has assisted Dr. Briggs for the past eight years with a background in animal behaviour and modification.

African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus),  is a member of the Canidae family and found only in Africa. It is the only species in the genus Lycaon. It is also known by the names Painted Hunting Dog, African Hunting Dog, Spotted Dog and the Painted Wolf. In Afrikaans- the Wildehond, and in Swahili- Mbwa mwilu!