Three Wild Dogs Walked 4,126 Km to Find Mates
Monday, September 21, 2026175 words3 minutes221 reads
Three African wild dogs from Zambia’s Kafue National Park travelled 4,126 kilometers after leaving their birth pack in 2025. The brothers, called the Mayukuyuku males, moved for about nine months. A study in Ecology calls their route the longest recorded movement by a land mammal in Africa.
African wild dogs live in social family groups called packs. When young adults leave their birth pack to find unrelated animals and a new territory, scientists call it dispersal. Researchers used GPS collars to track the brothers as they crossed protected and unprotected land.
The dogs moved toward the cities of Kitwe and Ndola, then changed direction rather than entering the busiest areas. By April 2026, they had settled in the Luano Game Management Area in the Luangwa Valley ecosystem. Researchers think the males established a new range, but they do not yet know which other dogs are living with them.
The journey shows that wild dogs can move across landscapes changed by people. But travel is risky: roads, snares, disease and habitat loss can kill the animals.
