Three African Wild Dogs Set Record with 2,500-Mile Trek Across Zambia

Three male African wild dogs, known as the Mayukuyuku males, completed a record-breaking 2,500-mile journey across Zambia, the longest movement ever recorded for an African mammal. Their nine-month trek, detailed in the journal Ecology on September 13, highlights both the threats facing the endangered species and their resilience. The dogs left Zambia's Kafue National Park in mid-summer 2025, heading east into unprotected areas. Two weeks earlier, four of their sisters had begun their own journey, but their numbers soon dropped to three. In September 2025, the siblings briefly reunited after the females traveled 872 miles and the males nearly 750 miles. The next day, they separated again. The females' journey ended tragically; one was collared and showed unusual movement patterns, suggesting a packmate was killed by a hunting snare and the collared female likely suffered the same fate. Meanwhile, the males continued, reaching a game management area in eastern Zambia's Luangwa Valley by April 2026, having traveled over 2,560 miles. Researchers believe they may have established a territorial range. This follows a similar 2021 journey by three sisters from South Luangwa National Park who traveled nearly 1,300 miles. The study underscores the need for connected landscapes and wildlife corridors, as emphasized by experts like Bruce Ellender and Nyambe Nyambe.