Three African wild dog brothers left their Zambian pack in 2025; eight months later, they had travelled 4,126 km, the longest recorded dispersal by an African mammal
Three African wild dog brothers have turned an already extraordinary journey into a record-breaking one, travelling 4,126 kilometres across Zambia after leaving their pack in search of new territory. The three males departed from the Mayukuyuku Pack in Kafue National Park in July 2025 and were tracked using GPS collars as researchers followed their movements across a landscape of protected areas, game management areas, roads, reservoirs and cities. The findings, published in Ecology, document what researchers describe as the longest recorded dispersal by an African mammal. The study, led by Scott Creel of Montana State University with collaborators from the Zambian Carnivore Programme and other institutions, also provides a glimpse into the challenges faced by African wild dogs as they move between increasingly fragmented habitats.
Three brothers leave their pack
The three males were about three years old when they left the Mayukuyuku Pack in Kafue National Park. They were among 19 pups from the pack that had survived to adulthood. Their departure was part of a natural process known as dispersal, in which young wild dogs leave their birth group and travel in search of unrelated animals with which they can potentially form new breeding groups.The researchers were monitoring several groups of dispersing African wild dogs, making it possible to compare how different animals moved through Zambia. Four females from the same Mayukuyuku Pack had dispersed around two weeks before the males, but their movements were initially much more limited. The three brothers, by contrast, began a remarkable eastward journey that eventually took them hundreds of kilometres from their original home range.
A journey through a changing landscape
The dogs’ route was not a straightforward journey between two protected areas. They moved through a mixture of protected and unprotected landscapes and encountered some major obstacles along the way. The brothers travelled towards areas around Kabwe, Kitwe and Ndola. When they approached urban areas, they changed direction rather than continuing through the cities. On one occasion, the dogs travelled north towards Ndola before turning around and retracing almost the same route for approximately 200 kilometres.Large reservoirs also forced the animals to change course. Instead of crossing the water, the brothers travelled around the reservoirs before continuing east towards the Luangwa Valley ecosystem. Their movements eventually took them towards the Chisomo and Petauke Game Management Areas, which are connected to the wider Luangwa landscape and South Luangwa National Park.
Representative Image of African Wild Dogs (Image Credit: Canva)
4,126 kilometres on the move
The distance travelled by the three brothers continued to increase as they moved across Zambia. By November 2025, they had already covered more than 2,300 kilometres from their original home range. The dogs later continued through the Luangwa Valley ecosystem before settling in a new range in the Luano Game Management Area, near the top of the Great Rift Escarpment.By April 1, 2026, their GPS records showed that they had travelled a total path length of 4,126 kilometres since leaving their birth pack. The 4,126-kilometre figure represents the actual route taken by the dogs rather than the straight-line distance between their start and end points. The maximum straight-line distance between the beginning and end of their journey was 419 kilometres. That distinction illustrates just how much ground the brothers covered while navigating the landscape. Instead of travelling directly towards a destination, they repeatedly changed direction to avoid obstacles and find suitable routes.
Why wild dogs disperse
For African wild dogs, dispersal is closely connected to their social structure. The species lives in highly cooperative packs, and young animals eventually leave their natal groups. Dispersal allows them to search for unrelated individuals and establish new groups where breeding can occur. Long-distance movement can therefore help maintain connections between separate populations. If animals can safely move between different areas, they may encounter potential mates and contribute to genetic exchange between populations.However, the researchers point out that extremely long movements do not automatically translate into successful population connectivity. The animals may travel extraordinary distances without ultimately joining another group or producing offspring there. The three brothers’ journey nevertheless demonstrates the species’ remarkable mobility and the potential scale at which conservation planning must operate.
Moving beyond protected areas
One of the most significant aspects of the journey was the variety of landscapes the dogs crossed. Their movements took them through national parks and game management areas as well as landscapes with much greater human influence. That creates risks for animals that depend on large territories. Roads can pose a collision risk, while livestock areas can create opportunities for conflict between predators and people. Wire snares used for bushmeat hunting can also injure or kill wild dogs.The study highlights how dispersing animals can face threats outside protected areas. This makes the spaces connecting protected landscapes important for the long-term conservation of wide-ranging species such as African wild dogs.
A record that reveals a conservation challenge
Discover Wildlife, which reported on the research, described the brothers’ journey as the longest recorded dispersal by an African mammal. The publication noted that the dogs’ GPS-tracked movements took them across roads, around cities and reservoirs and through the dramatic terrain of Zambia’s Great Rift Valley.The journey also shows that the boundaries drawn on conservation maps do not necessarily correspond to the way wildlife uses the landscape. A national park may provide a safe habitat, but a dispersing animal still needs to travel through the areas between protected sites. For African wild dogs, those connections can be particularly important because individuals may travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres when searching for new social groups and territory.
Connecting Zambia’s wildlife landscapes
The researchers’ observations provide evidence that African wild dogs can move between some of Zambia’s major wildlife areas despite the presence of human settlements and other barriers. The three brothers ultimately established themselves in the Luano Game Management Area after their extraordinary journey. Their movements demonstrate that landscapes outside national parks can also play a role in supporting wildlife movement.For conservationists, records like these can help identify routes used by animals and highlight places where maintaining habitat connectivity could matter. Protecting corridors between wildlife populations can provide dispersing animals with opportunities to move safely rather than becoming isolated in individual protected areas. The story of the three brothers is therefore about more than a remarkable distance. Their 4,126-kilometre journey shows the scale at which African wild dogs can move across their landscape and the obstacles they must navigate along the way. It also underlines a broader conservation issue: protecting wildlife may require looking beyond the boundaries of individual parks and preserving the connections that allow animals to move between them.
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