Greg Rasmussen

Greg Rasmussen (born 18 January 1955) is a British wildlife conservation biologist[1] who has studied the African wild dog for over twenty years, working in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.[2] He is the founder and a former director of the Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) project in Zimbabwe.[3] He is also the founder and current head of the Painted Dog Research Trust (PDRT).[4]

Greg Rasmussen
Greg Rasmussen demonstrates his painted dog tracking device at Hwange Park in 1996
Born
Gregory S. A. Rasmussen

London, United Kingdom
EducationFalcon College
Known forConservation of the African wild dog

Background

Rasmussen was born in London but moved to Rhodesia (Modern day Zimbabwe) with his parents when he was eleven years old where he attended Falcon College. This was followed by a spell in the merchant navy. In 1988, Joshua Ginsberg offered him a job observing animals in Hwange National Park. He established the Painted Dog Conservation project in 2002.

In 2003, he was involved in a light plane crash which left him severely injured and alone in the African bush. He survived and was eventually rescued. He almost lost his feet but doctors saved them, and as a result of the incident he is 3 inches (7.6 cm) shorter.[5] The story of his survival is featured in season one of I Shouldn't Be Alive, a documentary series broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the United States in an episode entitled "Jaws of Death". In the United Kingdom, it was broadcast as "Thrown to the Lions" on Channel 4 where the series is called Alive.[6]

References
  1. Sohn, Emily (2006-08-30). "Saving Africa's wild dogs". Science News for Kids. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  2. Raffaele, Paul (April 2007). "Curse of the Devil's Dogs". Smithsonian magazine. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  3. "Conservation Partners". Wildlife Conservation Network. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  4. http://www.painteddogresearch.org/index.asp
  5. "Crash landing in the African bush". BBC Wildlife magazine. January 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  6. "Thrown to the Lions". Channel 4. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
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