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Track Count Points to Several Hundred African Wild Dogs in Chinko

Large pack of African wild dogs walking along a road in Kruger National Park
Conservation · Population & status

Monitoring in Chinko Conservation Area in the Central African Republic has produced a population estimate of several hundred African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). African Parks reports that the estimate came from a track count conducted between February and April 2026, making it a survey-based estimate rather than a count of individually identified animals.

Camera traps also documented pups

Camera traps provided further evidence of the population’s presence and reproduction. In an area where wild dogs had not previously been recorded, the cameras recorded at least 12 individuals. Five were pups, and African Parks reported that all the photographed animals appeared healthy and well-fed.

The wild dogs in Chinko are not descended from a reintroduction. They belong to a surviving remnant population in a region where the species has disappeared from much of its former range. The latest monitoring therefore documents the continued presence of a naturally surviving population in one of the species’ few remaining strongholds in Central and West Africa.

The dogs also move through dense forest to reach open hunting areas

Chinko covers about 64,000 square kilometres and contains a mosaic of tropical rainforest, woodland and grassland. Although African wild dogs are most often associated with savannas and open woodland, observations in Chinko show them moving through dense, humid forest to reach grassy clearings where pursuit hunting is better suited to the terrain.

Landscape recovery may help support the population

African Parks links the monitoring results to the broader recovery of wildlife in the Chinko landscape. Conservation and ecosystem-restoration work are supporting the herbivore populations on which the wild dogs depend. Collaboration with local communities and outreach to seasonally mobile herders are also intended to reduce contact and conflict between people, livestock and wildlife.

African Parks identifies Chinko as one of the last major refuges for African wild dogs in the Central–West African region. The 2026 track estimate, together with the camera-trap record of five pups, provides new evidence that the population persists and is reproducing within the protected landscape.

Sources and image credit

  1. African Parks — Positive Signs for African Wild Dog in Chinko, CARPrimary conservation-organisation source published 26 August 2026; reports results from a February–April 2026 track count and camera-trap monitoring in Chinko Conservation Area.

Image: Bernard DUPONT — large African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) pack on H11 Road west of Skukuza, Kruger National Park, South Africa, photographed 25 February 2022; Wikimedia Commons/Flickr. Representative image, not the Chinko population. CC BY-SA 2.0. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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