Remembering African Wild Dogs book cover. Image by Neil Aldridge
Having followed the Remembering Wildlife from its inception it was a joy to see that the next book was to be Remembering African Wild Dogs and we were honoured to receive an advanced copy for review.
Like the preceding 5 books in the series this book will not disappoint, the photographs show every aspect of the life of these mostly unknown creatures with images that have been donated by photographers so that all funds raised will go to help protect these beautiful animals.
Image by Will Burrard-Lucas, Remembering African Wild Dogs
Image by Chad Cocking, Remembering African Wild Dogs
Remembering Wildlife, the fundraising photography book series which has so far donated over US$1.1m (£848,000 GBP) to protect endangered wild animals, will publish its latest book, Remembering African Wild Dogs, on Saturday 6 November 2021.
Research[1] conducted by Remembering Wildlife ahead of the launch reveals that more than one in three adults in the UK (38{b7f689427f81e317b7f60b5a54fde01ab1a33ca18679f45a233af3a42b3f6e76}) admit they’ve never even heard of the species. The sixth book in the groundbreaking collection therefore aims to raise awareness of what is one of Africa’s most elusive and misunderstood animals.
Image by Andy Skillen, Remembering African Wild Dogs
With their colourful patchy coats, there are only about 6,600 African wild dogs (also known as painted dogs, painted wolves or African hunting dogs) left in the wild. While once they ranged widely through Sub-Saharan Africa, they have disappeared from many countries. Populations have declined due to loss of – or decreasing – habitat, conflict with humans, susceptibility to disease, bushmeat snares and conflict with other predators such as lions. Now only 660 breeding packs remain and they number even less than cheetahs but in its research, Remembering Wildlife found nearly half (46{b7f689427f81e317b7f60b5a54fde01ab1a33ca18679f45a233af3a42b3f6e76}) of respondents wrongly thought there were more than 10,000 left in the wild. In addition, the survey also revealed that only 44{b7f689427f81e317b7f60b5a54fde01ab1a33ca18679f45a233af3a42b3f6e76} of respondents were confident of knowing the different between an African wild dog and a hyena, with 56{b7f689427f81e317b7f60b5a54fde01ab1a33ca18679f45a233af3a42b3f6e76} unsure they could tell.
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.”
Image by Arte Wolfe, Remembering African Wild Dogs
Ahead of the book launch, Remembering Wildlife has already made its first major donation ($25,000 USD) from Remembering African Wild Dogs, to a historic project which successfully translocated 14 African wild dogs from South Africa and Mozambique to Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve in July. The translocation to reintroduce this endangered species to Malawi was undertaken through a collaboration between the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and African Parks.
Image by Prelena Soma Owen, Remembering African Wild Dogs
As with previous books in the collection – Remembering Elephants, Remembering Rhinos, Remembering Great Apes, Remembering Lions and Remembering Cheetahs – Remembering African Wild Dogs features stunning images donated by many of the world’s leading wildlife photographers such as Marsel van Oosten, Jonathan & Angela Scott, Frans Lanting, Greg du Toit, and Charlie Hamilton James. It also features 10 images chosen from thousands of entrants to a competition launched earlier this year.
Image by Tami Walker, Remembering African Wild Dogs
All profits from the books go to conservation projects, many of which have struggled for funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Image by Albie Venter, Remembering African Wild Dogs
The Remembering Wildlife series was created by wildlife photographer Margot Raggett, who set out to raise money for wildlife conservation by making the most beautiful book on a species ever seen, after she witnessed the aftermath of a poached elephant in Kenya. At the time, Margot thought the project would be a one-off, but the success of Remembering Elephants in 2016 led to more books in the collaborative Remembering Wildlife series, which raises awareness of the plight facing wildlife as well as funds to protect it.
Image by Margot Raggett, Remembering African Wild Dogs
Image by Hannes Lochner, Remembering African Wild Dogs
Since the first book was published in 2016, Remembering Wildlife has worked with nearly 200 photographers, sold more than 32,000 copies and has attracted many famous supporters such as Pierce Brosnan, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chris Martin and Russell Crowe.
All images are © Copyright of the respective photographer and or Remembering Wildlife
Margot Raggett
Margot Raggett is the founder and producer of the Remembering Wildlife series. After a successful career in PR in London, Margot moved into wildlife photography around 2010. Everything changed again when she saw a poached elephant in late 2014 and she determined to use her skill set to raise awareness of the poaching crisis and also to raise funds to fight it. Since then, she’s produced six books in the series, including this latest edition, Remembering African Wild Dogs, and raised more than US$1.1m (£848,000 GBP) through sales and events such as this launch.
Order Your Copy
Copies of all the books in the Remembering Wildlife series can be ordered on the website at: www.rememberingwildlife.com, where Remembering African Wild Dogs can also be ordered ahead of publication. Each book costs £45 GBP / $65 USD
[1] Research conducted using SurveyMonkey of 100 UK adults, August 2021, full findings on request.