Marker Laurie, Honig Meredith, Pfeiffer Lauren, Kuypers Monique, Gervais Kathy
Cheetah Conservation Fund, Otjiwarongo, Namibia.
Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Zoo Biol. 2022 Mar;41(2):181-189. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21662. Epub 2021 Dec 6.
African wild dogs (AWDs; Lycaon pictus) are an endangered canid species facing drastic decline throughout their range due to habitat fragmentation and persecution by humans over livestock depredation, resulting in dens destroyed and adult members of packs and pups often being killed. Breeding of captive AWDs is challenging due to high juvenile mortality, only marginally improved from wild conditions, thus both in situ and ex situ conservation remains critical. As a result of human-wildlife conflict, between 2017 and 2018, the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism confiscated three litters of orphaned AWD pups from rural farmers who had destroyed the dens in Eastern Namibia and placed the pups with the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Seventeen of the 18 pups were successfully reared to yearlings with 15 individuals translocated for eventual soft release into a private game reserve. This case study provides information on the successful rearing of three litters of orphaned wild dog pups on behavior, housing, husbandry, diet, growth and medical issues as limited information is available for rearing orphaned pups from the age of 2.5 weeks old.
非洲野犬（AWDs；非洲野犬属）是一种濒危犬科动物，由于栖息地破碎化以及人类因牲畜被掠食而进行的迫害，其数量在整个分布范围内急剧下降，导致巢穴被摧毁，犬群中的成年成员和幼崽常常被杀害。圈养非洲野犬的繁殖具有挑战性，因为幼崽死亡率很高，相比野生环境仅有轻微改善，因此原地保护和迁地保护都仍然至关重要。由于人类与野生动物的冲突，在2017年至2018年期间，纳米比亚环境、林业和旅游部从纳米比亚东部农村农民手中没收了三窝失去双亲的非洲野犬幼崽，这些农民摧毁了巢穴，并将幼崽交给了猎豹保护基金。18只幼崽中有17只成功饲养到一岁，其中15只被转移，最终被软性放归到一个私人野生动物保护区。本案例研究提供了关于成功饲养三窝失去双亲的野犬幼崽的行为、饲养环境、饲养管理、饮食、生长和医疗问题的信息，因为关于从2.5周龄开始饲养失去双亲的幼崽的信息有限。
