Namibia: How Training Dogs to Dodge Snakes Helps Protect Livestock and Save Namibia’s Cheetahs

Dogs trained to guard goats and sheep against cheetahs in Namibia are being felled at an alarming rate by venomous snakes – so conservationists are piloting a new training method to teach the dogs to avoid them.

By protecting livestock from attacks, dogs can play a crucial role in reducing conflict between farmers and endangered predators.

But Anatolian and Kangal shepherd dogs, ancient breeds native to Turkey and now deployed to guard farms in Namibia, are so devoted to their herds that they’ll…