Wild Dog hunts have a high success rate with 3 out of 4 hunts resulting in a kill. As the exhausted prey eventually slows down, the dogs surround it targeting their softer underparts and killing their victim. The hunting pack keep in touch constantly throughout the hunt by producing high pitched yapping contact calls. The preys zig-zagging evasive movements which would normally confuse a lone hunter such as a Cheetah, are ineffective against the pack of wild dogs. During these long distance chases, Wild Dogs will spread out to prevent prey from any sideways escape attempts. Typical hunts are seen more as an endurance chase. However, prey will eventually be chased down over distances of 6 kilometres (3.5 miles). The Wild Dogs top speed is 60 kilometres per hour (37 miles per hour) and prey will most often be able to gallop so what faster. Surprise attacks are unnecessary as African Wild Dogs have the stamina to chase prey until it is exhausted. In the early, cool mornings and late afternoons the Wild Dogs will approach their prey in full view. Hunts are not strategically cunning at all. They are extremely co-operative as a hunting pack when running down and over-powering prey in long distance chases. This non-aggressive approach is emphasised perhaps because if any injuries occur, the pack will be short of hunters and unable to provide as much for its members.Īfrican Wild Dog packs have intense social bonds and these bonds are a great advantage during hunts. Even over food, an individual will energetically beg rather than get into conflict. Dominance is established without any fighting or blood-shed. Wild dogs are very sociable animals and have a submissive based hierarchy rather than a dominant one. Males and females each have their own hierarchies with the oldest female being the dominant individual and in contrast, the youngest male taking charge of the males. Packs will contain an alpha male and female who are the main breeding pairs. Most members of the pack are related to each other in some way. Packs often contain more males than females. Home ranges vary in size and depend on the availability of prey but can be more than 1000 square kilometres (620 square miles). African Wild Dog Behaviour and HuntingĪfrican Wild Dogs live together in packs containing between 10 – 20 individuals. Wild dogs rarely consume carrion and will not return to an earlier kill. Warthogs are also hunted, however, care has to be taken not be inflicted with a potentially lethal wound by the warthogs sharp tusks although safety in numbers is usually the resolve. Larger packs may hunt larger animals such as wildebeests. Most of their diet is mammal prey, however, they do sometimes hunt large birds such as ostriches. They prey upon a variety of grazing animals particularly medium sized ungulates such as Zebras, Antelopes, Impalas, Gazelles and Springboks. African Wild Dog DietĪfrican Wild Dogs are strict carnivores. Dogs in the southern regions inhabit the open savannas of the sahara desert. The African Wild Dogs preferred habitats are open woodlands, grasslands and savannas. African Wild Dogs have around 42 teeth including premolars that are much larger than in other canids allowing it to consume large amounts of bone. African Wild Dogs differ from other members of the canidae family in that they only have four toes on each paw instead of five as they lack dew claws (which is the fifth digit on other canids). Males are usually larger than females in all regions. It stands around 75 centimetres at the shoulder and weighs 37 – 80 pounds.Įast and West African dogs tend to be smaller than those in South Africa. African Wild Dogs measure around 1.5 metres (5 feet) in length which includes its head and a tail length of around 30 – 40 centimetres. Their muzzles are black and they have a black line which extends down their forehead. They have large, rounded distinctive ears and a long tail which has a white plume at the end. African Wild Dogs have slim, lean bodies and long, slender legs. Each pattern is unique to each individual, just like a Giraffes pattern and a humans fingerprints are individually unique. The irregular pattern is colored with white, yellow, brown and black markings. The African Wild Dog has an uniquely patterned coat. The African Wild Dog is the only species in the Genus ‘Lycaon’. The African Wild Dogs scientific name ‘Lycaon pictus’ comes from the Greek language for ‘wolf’ and Latin for ‘painted’. In Swahili it is referred to as ‘Mbwa mwilu’. The African Wild Dog is known by other names such as the Painted Hunting Dog, African Hunting Dog, Cape Hunting Dog and Painted Wolf. It is a member of the canidae family which also includes dogs, coyotes, dingos, jackals and wolves. The African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) is a mammal native only to Africa.
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