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African wild dog
| FACT FILE: |
| Swahili
Name: |
Mbwa Mwitu |
| Scientific
Name: |
Lycaon
pictus |
| Size: |
30 inches
at the shoulder |
| Weight: |
55 to 70
pounds |
| Lifespan: |
10 to 12
years |
| Habitat: |
Dense
forest to open plains |
| Diet: |
Carnivorous/forager |
| Gestation: |
21/2
months |
| Predators: |
Humans |
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The African wild dog, also called the hunting dog, is a
vanishing species in East Africa. Field studies have shown that
the wild dog is a highly intelligent and social animal. Like
most predators, it plays an important role in eliminating sick
and weak animals, thereby helping maintain a natural balance and
ultimately improving prey species. The stereotype of the wild
dog as a cruel butcher is slowly being replaced by a less harsh
image.
Physical Characteristics
The African wild dog is long-legged, with massive jaws
and very large, erect batlike ears. Although it resembles some
domestic dogs, it differs in that it has four toes on each foot
instead of five.
The Latin name for the African wild dog means “painted wolf,”
which aptly describes the colorful coat of dark brown, black and
yellow patches. Wild dogs have bushy tails with white tips that
may serve as a flag to keep the pack in contact while hunting
Habitat
Wild dogs live mostly in arid zones and in the savanna. They
also are found in woodland and montane habitats where their prey
lives.
Behavior
Wild dogs live in packs of six to 20. If the pack numbers
fall below six, hunting efficiency is eroded. The dogs have a
peculiar rather playful ceremony that bonds them for a common
purpose and initiates each hunt. They start circulating among
the other pack members, vocalizing and touching until they get
excited and are ready to hunt. They start the hunt in an
organized, cooperative manner. When prey is targeted, some of
the dogs run close to the animal, while others follow behind,
taking over when the leader tired. They can run long distances,
at speeds up to about 35 miles per hour.
Of the large carnivores, wild dogs are the most efficient
hunters – targeted prey rarely escapes. They tear the flesh
until the animal falls, consuming even if it is still alive.
This behavior may prejudice people against them, although in
reality it may be no worse than the prolonged kills of other
carnivores. Apart from its undeniable bloodiness, the remarkable
aspect of the their hunting is the complete lack of aggression
toward each other. Wild dogs have a social hierarchy but unlike
many other social animals, there is little obvious intimidation.
They have elaborate greeting rituals, accompanied by twittering
and whining. Their large range of vocalizations includes a short
bark of alarm, a rallying howl and a bell-like contact call that
can be heard over long distances.
Diet
They usually hunt in the early morning and again in late evening,
prettying on gazelles and other antelopes, warthogs, wildebeests
calves and rat and birds. They may raid domestic stock, but as
wild dogs seldom stay in one place for long, this damage is not
extensive
Caring for the Young
A nuclear pack of about six dogs usually consists of one
dominant breeding pair and several nonbreeding adult male
helpers. Occasionally another female in the pack forms a
subordinate breeding pair with one of the other males. A
breeding female gives birth about once a year, with litters
averaging about 10 pups, thought as many as 19 have been
recorded. They pups are born in a shelter of thick bush or grass,
or in a hole. Usually twice as many males are born. Unlike many
other species, the female offspring leave the natal group when
they reach maturity, not the males.
The hunting members of the pack return to the den where they
regurgitate meat for the nursing female and pups. Although
litters are very large, very few pups survive. Sometimes the
dens are flooded, or the pups die from exposure or disease. When
pack numbers are reduced, hunting is not as efficient and adults
may not bring back sufficient food for the pups. The entire pack
is involved in the welfare of the pups; both males and females
babysit the young and provide food for them.
Predators
Throughout Africa wild dogs have been shot and poisoned by
farmers, hunters and, at one time, by rangers who considered
them as bloodthirsty raiders of livestocks and dispersers of
wild herds. As the numbers of these wild dogs dwindle, they
become more mysterious, elusive and enigmatic, reappearing
suddenly in places they have not inhabited for months and then
vanishing again a few days later. Even though protected in parks
and reserves, wild dog populations have declined to the point
that packs may no longer be viable. In some areas they are close
to extinction.
Did you know?
- No two wild dogs are marked exactly the same, making it
easy to identify different individuals. Why such a pattern
should develop, and how it serves the hunting dog, has long
intrigued scientists.
- Wild dogs are usually on the move over a very large range, covering for example, some 900 square miles in the Serengeti.
After a litter is born, however, they will limit their
travelling and hunting to areas closer to the den.
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