Azawakh Population and Distribution

The Azawakh originate from West Africa and are distributed primarily in the European countries and North America. The worldwide population is estimated to be in the very low thousands. If the Azawakh were an undomesticated species, IUCN would probably red list it in the endangered category. Less than an estimated 300 living specimens are in North America.

In its countries of origin of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and possibly the southern part of Algeria, the population of Azawakh may even be more critically endangered due to drought and political upheavals involving the Tamasheq speaking nomads who have had them for centuries. The Azawakh is a camp and livestock guard and a prized companion to the nomads. Their physical traits are evolved over millennium to dissipate heat efficiently so that they can survive in the harsh climate of their homeland in the Sahel.

The largest distribution of the Azawakh is in Europe, where their development sadly is being re-designed for dog shows to serve human vanity. Some European show dog fanciers consider the authentic Azawakh that are desert bred in their countries of origin, to be mongrels that belong to the zoo.

There is no Azawakh in the Asian countries, less than a dozen in South America, and a mere handful in Australia.

Rhaka -a Raba daughter with a piece of something in her mouth

Rhaka