Detection Dog Survey Detects African Wild Dog Presence and a Shared Marking Site

Abstract

African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) populations are difficult to assess effectively and scalable strategies for population monitoring are lacking, often because of low detection rates. Scat detection dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) have emerged as a suitable tool to detect the presence of wide-ranging carnivores. In this study, we employed a detection dog to locate African wild dog scat in an unfenced, understudied region of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. Over 2 weeks of fieldwork, the detection dog-team found 21 African wild dog scats within a 2304 km² study area. Six of those scats were detected at a marking site shared by multiple African wild dog individuals, as determined through genetic identification. The marking site discovered by the scat detection dog facilitated the collaring of two African wild dogs in close proximity, the repeat detection of wild dog individuals on camera trap, the collection of additional scat samples, and the highest recording of individuals per site from camera traps (n = 5) and genetic verification (n = 5). This highlights the value of marking sites for improved long-term monitoring for this elusive species. To our knowledge, we report the first use of a detection dog to find wild dog scat and discover a shared marking site. Our findings hold promise for the potential of detection dogs to rapidly survey this wide-ranging, endangered canid.