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The African Wild Dog: An Ambassador for the World’s Largest Terrestrial Conservation Area

Image Wild Dog
An African wild dog crosses a small canal in northern Botswana's Okavango Delta. Although the dog depicted here is able to cross the river with ease, the same does not hold true for larger swamps, rivers and lakes that prove to be nearly insurmountable obstacles for the species. (Image: Dominik Behr)

The world’s largest terrestrial conservation area is located in southern Africa and covers 520,000 square kilometers spanning five countries. A study from the University of Zurich now shows that the endangered African wild dog mostly remains within the boundaries of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) when dispersing, thus highlighting the relevance of such a large-scale conservation initiative for maintaining key wildlife corridors of threatened species.

Press release UZH

 

About the KAZA initiative

 

Southern Africa is home to the world’s largest terrestrial conservation initiative: the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). Stretching across Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the KAZA covers an area of around 520,000 square kilometers, making it larger than Germany, Austria and Switzerland combined. This unprecedented initiative seeks to connect a total of 35 already-existing national parks, game reserves and other protected to preserve a dense network of wildlife corridors for populations of endangered species. The KAZA will be formally established based on an international treaty between the participating African countries.

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