Zimbabwean ranger brings unloved painted dogs back from brink

Painted dogs have plummeted in number from an estimated half a million to fewer than 7,000. Photograph: Nicholas Dyer

When Jealous Mpofu was a boy, he overheard his father’s bosses talking negatively about painted dogs, wild African canines with distinct marble coats that are among the world’s most endangered species.

“They said they didn’t kill an animal, they grabbed the flesh. They said they were rough animals,” Mpofu said.