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Remembering African Wild Dogs: Beautiful photographs of this wild canine, also known as painted dogs.

Remembering African Wild Dogs is the sixth instalment of the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife book series, and aims to raise awareness of this misunderstood mammal with stunning images donated by world-leading wildlife photographers.

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Megan Shersby

Published: October 28, 2023 at 5:49 pm

The sixth instalment of this landmark book series aims to shine a light on its most misunderstood subjects yet. These beautiful canines are one of the world's most endangered mammals. There are only about 6,600 African wild dogs (also known as painted dogs, painted wolves or African hunting dogs) left in the wild, due to habitat loss, conflict with humans, diseases, bushmeat traps, and conflict with other predators such as lions.

Remembering Wildlife founder and producer Margot Raggett said: “The African wild dog is one of the most misunderstood of mammals and it was shocking to understand through our research the level of ignorance both about them and also about how few are left. The opportunity to not only raise awareness but also raise funds to protect them, is just what this series is about. We don’t want to just remember them in picture books.”

As with the other books in this collection – Remembering Elephants, Remembering Rhinos, Remembering Great Apes, Remembering Lions and Remembering Cheetahs – Remembering African Wild Dogs features images donated by leading wildlife photographers including Marsel van Oosten, Jonathan & Angela Scott, Frans Lanting, Greg du Toit, and Charlie Hamilton James.

Remembering African Wild Dogs_lge

Full view of an African wild dog looking straight into the camera lens, ears pricked up, against a mottled brown background, with fallen tree branch and grass in the foreground.
An African wild dog in Laikipia, Kenya. © Albie Venter/Remembering African Wild Dogs
Two African wild dogs, on their hind legs, greet each other, with their front paws on each other’s shoulders, mouths open.
Two African wild dogs greet each other with joy at Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. © Art Wolfe/Remembering African Wild Dogs
Six young wild dog pups stay close together on the dry, muddy ground, their brown, orange and yellow hews blending in with the surroundings, only given away by the white on their fur.
A group of wild dog pups taken at Motswari in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa. © Chad Cocking/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A pack of African wild dogs look tiny under a huge tree in the centre of the photograph, surrounded by thousands of bright stars against the night sky. In the top right of the photo is the Milky Way, which stretches diagonally from the top of the tree, in white, gold, cream and black, which lights up the sky.
African wild dogs under the Milky Way taken in the Khwai/Moremi Reserve in Botswana. © Hannes Lochner/Remembering African Wild Dogs
Three young African wild dog pups on a mound of mud, ears up and alert as they look into the camera. Two of the wild dogs are lying on the ground, while the other is sitting up. In the background, a fourth wild dog can be seen.
Curious young African wild dog pups in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. © Andy Skillen/Remembering African Wild Dogs
An African wild dog, with white and grey dappled shins, pale brown coat and black muzzle, walks along a track. Directly above, the yellow sun is enveloped by a ring of red as it begins to set, turning the sky a pale purple, contrasting with the yellow and green trees and ground.
African wild dog at sunset in Khwai, Botswana. © Sabine Stols/Remembering African Wild Dogs.
An African wild dog stands directly in front of the sun, which is rising and creating a spotlight on the ground as well as eight yellow rays on the dog’s body. Bushes and trees appear dark against bright blue sky, which is littered with fluffy white clouds.
In the spotlight at sunrise in Hwange, Zimbabwe. © Will Burrard-Lucas/Remembering African Wild Dogs

Competition Winners

The competition searched for ' the most beautiful images of wild dogs ever seen'. These could be taken by anyone from full-time pros, to amateurs and everyone in-between. The winning ten images are featured in the book, and can be viewed below.

Two wild dogs in the foreground prepare to go hunting against a golden backdrop as the sun rises. Behind is the blurred image of a third dog, which has a collar on for research purposes.
Wild dogs waking each other up to go hunting in the golden hour. The alpha female in the background is collared for research purposes, at Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. © Gregg Robinson/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A wild dog moves through a field of yellow devil thorn flowers, which create a sea of yellow, against a backdrop of green trees.
Walking through yellow devil thorn flowers at Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa. © Lance van de Vyver/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A rippled reflection of five African wild dogs at a waterhole in front of a deep blue African sky.
Ripple effect in Nxai Pan, North Eastern Botswana. © Kathryn Sowerbutts/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A cute, tiny African wild dog pup sits on the brown ground, with the muddy remains of the day’s kill in its mouth.
Pup bites more than it can chew in South Africa. © Prelena Soma Owen/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A pack of about 20 African wild dogs run along a dry, dusty ground, many with their tails in the air. Behind them, the green, yellow and brown of the trees are lit up by the sunlight that also bathes the pack
Muddle of mutts at Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. © Tami Walker/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A single African wild dog stands on the edge of hill, looking out over the vast Kenyan landscape.
Keeping lookout at Laikipia, Kenya. © Dawn Perkins/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A wild dog looks spots its reflection in the water as it moves along a muddy bank near the edge of a water pool.
First drink of the day at Kanga Pan, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. © Matthew Armstrong-Ford/ Remembering African Wild Dogs
The black silhouettes of two African wild dogs play fighting, stooped down, with their tails in the air and noses pointing to each other, in front of a bright orange backdrop.
Fiery play at Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. © Nick Rabjohn/Remembering African Wild Dogs
A single African wild dog stands to attention, with its huge ears up, its pink tongue out and its brown eyes looking into the camera.
Away from the pack near the Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana. © Torie Hilley/Remembering African Wild Dogs
About 20 African wild dogs, with ears pricked up, on the edge of a river. The blue water and sky contrast with the green of the grass and trees in the background.
Beside the Linyanti River, checking for crocodiles, in Linyanti, Botswana. © Grant Atkinson/Remembering African Wild Dogs

About the Remembering Wildlife series

The Remembering Wildlife series was created by wildlife photographer Margot Raggett, with the aim of making the most beautiful book on a species ever seen, publishing Remembering Elephants in 2016 after she witnessed the devastation of elephant poaching in Kenya. Remembering Elephants was a great success and is now in its third edition. All proceeds from the book went towards elephant conservation and anti-poaching causes, and the series has since aimed to do the same for many other species.

Since this first book Remembering Wildlife has worked with nearly 200 photographers, sold more than 32,000 copies. It has also donated more than US$1.1m (£850,000 GBP) to 54 projects across 24 countries and raised awareness of the threats facing some of our most iconic endangered species.

Megan Shersby

Naturalist, writer and content creator

Megan is a naturalist, writer and content creator. She is also a bookworm and a keen board gamer. She is the former editorial and digital co-ordinator at BBC Wildlife, and wrote features and sections for both the print magazine and discoverwildlife.com, including the Q&A and Go Wild sections, Poo Corner and News Species Discovery, the weekly e-newsletter and the social media accounts. Her features have included olms (cave salamanders) in Slovenia, arapaima (very big fish) in Guyana, and the role of hippos as ecosystem engineers in Zambia. She has also contributed to the website and magazine of BBC Countryfile Magazine, and has hosted some its podcast episodes. Prior to joining BBC Wildlife in 2016, she gained a degree in BSc(Hons) Animal Science, undertook behavioural research on zebras and dwarf mongooses, and worked in environmental education for a number of conservation charities.

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