Southern Africa - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 162

206 Track wild dogs in the Limpopo,
South Africa
The Endangered Wildlife Trust is a non-profit
organization in the Limpopo region that has
worked to ensure wild dogs' survival for over
three decades. One of their successes has been to
show farmers that wild dog-tracking is a viable
form of ecotourism that can protect the dogs
while benefiting local communities. Spending
nights at the thatched Little Muck Lodge
in Mapungubwe, guests are led by a trained
conservationist on 4WD tours that allow them
to observe the dogs roaming in their natural
habitat - hunting, if you're lucky - and the fees
from this are used to manage fenced reserves
that keep the animals away from local farmers'
stock. So far it's proving an effective strategy: the
wild dog population in Limpopo is finally rising
after a long decline.

have recovered from only
ten individuals in the
early 1990s to over 360
today, about 75 of which
live on Ile aux Aigrettes.
Visitors tour the reserve
by boat and then go on a
guided walk around the
island to see the native
wildlife, the diversity of
which gives an insight
into how Mauritius once
was.

Need to know Mapungubwe is about three hours'
drive north of Makhado. Booking and rates for Little
Muck Lodge and wild dog-tracking are at W www.
soutpansberg-tourism.co.za/tourism_cd/html/little_
muck_lodge.html; T [phone].

207 See the pink pigeons of
mauritius
As well as its five-star hotels and idyllic sandy
beaches, Mauritius is best known for once being
the home of the dodo. The extinct flightless bird
has bought the island international recognition,
but ironically, some of the island's other
endemic species have meanwhile been sliding
towards the brink of eradication. Much of the
island's vegetation has been replaced by sugar-
cane plantations and sprawling development,
and what wildlife remains is under threat.
The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF)
has for the last twenty years championed the
conservation of the island's flora and fauna.
To help raise funds for its work, it organizes
guided trips to the small islet reserve of Ile
aux Aigrettes, which is home to giant tortoises
and the pink pigeon, one of the organization's
success stories. Numbers of this endemic bird

Need to know The
two-hour tour ( W www.ile-
aux-aigrettes.com) costs
MUR800 per person and
departs six times a day
from the Old Sand Jetty
at Pointe Jerome on the
southeast coast. MWF
also takes on conservation
volunteers; see W www.
mauritian-wildlife.org/
volunteer.php.

(From top) Coral off Madagascar;
African wild dog; one of Mauritius'
rare pink pigeons (each one is
tagged and monitored)