Microsoft Co-Founder Developing ‘Bio-Barrier’ to Protect Endangered Wild Dogs in Africa
Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, is funding conservationists who are developing a bio-barier based on chemicals identified in the urine of the African Wild Dog. The barrier would be used to manage the movement of dog packs and possibly become a model for similar systems for other endangered species.
In the middle of the 20th Century, the African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) was common throughout sub saharan Africa. There were estimated to be 500,000 dogs in 39 countries, and packs of 100 or more were not uncommon. Today there are only 3,000-5,500 in fewer than 25 countries, primarily in eastern and southern Africa.
