The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a dog breed bred in the Southern Africa region. Its forebears can be traced to the semi-domesticated, ridged hunting dogs of the Khoikhoi, which were crossed with European dogs by the early colonists of the Cape Colony of southern Africa. Within 53 years of Dutch colonisation in Southern Africa and the origins of the wagon-trekking boers  later known as Afrikaners, who converted vast stretches of wild veld into farmland, hunted for meat and defended their cattle herds, staff, and homesteads from lions, the Europeans were using these local dogs themselves.By the 1860s, European colonisers had also imported a variety of mainly European dog breeds to this area of Africa, including such dedicated hunting dogs as Great Danes, Bloodhounds, Greyhounds, and terriers. Genetic analysis indicates that the Ridgeback and the Great Dane fall within the same genetic clade (group), which implies the Dane's major contribution. The union's official name for the breed was changed from 'Rhodesian lion dog' to 'Rhodesian Ridgeback'.
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