CLZ – Latest News
Meet the New Dog Unit Members
The Conservation Lower Zambezi team (CLZ) are very excited to announce the addition of two new village puppies who are joining their DNPW/ CLZ Dog Unit. The puppies, called Smoke and Skye, were specially chosen from local villages using Volhard’s Puppy Aptitude Test. They are now being trained by Resolve Wildlife as detection and tracking dogs.
Their addition will bring the total number to the Unit’s dogs to four, with four handlers. CLZ’s goal is for them to be able to track suspects and detect illegal wildlife products, such as ivory, pangolin scales, rhino horn, bushmeat, cat skins, firearms, and ammunition.
This pilot programme using village dogs is the first of its kind within Zambia. It is hoped that these local dogs will be more resilient to local diseases and the environment than imported dogs. CLZ thanked the International Elephant Foundation for supporting this initiative.
Camera Trap Project
For the first time since the pandemic, Katie Muninger, Kansas City Zoo’s Animal Care Manager, was able to visit CLZ. Katie is once again assisting with the annual camera trapping project and water hole surveys.
Data from the project provides visual evidence of which wildlife species are present in key areas. The photo above shows exciting evidence of a rare sighting – a caracal (Caracal caracal)). Although this species is known to live in the Lower Zambezi they are nocturnal, being highly secretive and difficult to observe. CLZ thanked the Kansas City Zoo for supporting their camera trap project as well as the DNPW and CLZ patrols in Luangwa.
CLZ’s Annual Report Now Published
Last year was a demanding yet productive year for CLZ with many accomplishments across all their programmes, including wildlife protection, environmental education and community empowerment. They are now pleased to share their Conservation Lower Zambezi’s 2021 Impact Report. You can now find out what they achieved during 2021 by reading their full report online.
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All photos ©CLZ