The Rhodesian Ridgeback is nowadays the only registered breed native to South Africa. It's ancestry can be traced to the Cape Colony; a cross between the first pioneers' dogs and the semi-domesticated, Hottentot mountain hunting dogs.
"Ridgebacks holding lion at bay" by Marilyn Farmer Rhodes
Hunting mainly in groups of two or three, the original use of the Rhodesian Ridgeback or "Lion Dog" was to track game (especially lions) and to restrain it until the arrival of the hunter.
