Zimbabwe - Dog breeds list

Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. The capital is Harare. Zimbabwe achieved de jure sovereignty from the United Kingdom in April 1980, following 14 years as an unrecognized state under the conservative white minority government of Rhodesia, which unilaterally declared independence in 1965.

There is one dog breed that originates in Zimbabwe, the Rhodesian Ridgeback. It is the descendent of the lion hunting dogs, used by the Hottenot tribes in the 15th century. In the 1800s, European colonists crossbred these dogs with Mastiff type dogs in order to obtain working dogs: herding, guarding. This dog got its name from the Rhodesia region in Africa. After World War II this dog could be found in the USA.