Botswana Wild Dog Research Project
Founded as the Botswana Wild Dog Research Project in 1989, the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (BPCT) has expanded to cover all the large carnivore species in Botswana. It is one of the longest running large predator research projects in Africa and one of only a handful of its caliber worldwide. BPCT research on wild dogs has made it abundantly clear that the health and welfare of the entire predator population is a key indication of overall health of the ecosystem. The Government of Botswana, also acknowledging that appropriate and necessary resource management cannot be undertaken in the absence of accurate information about its natural resources, has entrusted BPCT with the task of leading northern Botswana's conservation and research initiatives on all large carnivores and their associated habitats. The Okavango Delta, where most of BPCT's research takes place, is a freshwater wetland of global importance. It is the largest Ramsar (International Convention on Wetlands) site on Earth and was granted IUCN world heritage status by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).