Cheetah, lion and African wild dog are among the most threatened carnivore species in the world, 

having suffered catastrophic population declines and dramatic range contractions in the past 50 years.

Today, these carnivores are restricted to mere fractions of their former ranges, often existing in fragmented ‘islands’ of protection, too small to support viable populations into the long term. 

Thus, the conservation of these species depends not only on protecting individual populations in isolated parks, but also on identifying and maintaining suitable corridors for dispersal to maintain viable interconnecting populations across the landscape.

The Greater-Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area is made up of Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe and the Limpopo region of Mozambique.  

Although there are known populations of cheetah, lion and wild dog in South Africa and Zimbabwe, little is known about the status of these species in the Mozambican portion of the GLTCA.

The first step towards implementing adequate conservation measures involves obtaining reliable population data.