African Wild Dog

Some cool african wild dog behavior images:

African Wild Dog


Image by Crazy George
African wild dog in Ngala Private Game Reserve. Wonderful animals who amazed us with their behaviour. Hard to believe there are fewer than 5000 remaining in the wild, and we were very fortunate to see two packs. Hope to God we do not allow them to become extinct. © Andy Withers

African Wild Dog


Image by digitalART2
The African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) is a carnivorous mammal of the Canidae family, found only in Africa, especially in scrub savanna and other lightly wooded areas. It is also called the African Hunting Dog, the Cape Hunting Dog, the Spotted Dog, or the Painted Wolf in English, Wildehond in Afrikaans, and Mbwa mwitu in Swahili. It is the only species in the monotypic genus, Lycaon.

The African Wild Dog hunts in packs. Like most members of the dog family, it is a cursorial hunter, meaning that it pursues its prey in a long, open chase. During pursuit, it may reach speeds of up to 45 mph.[9] Nearly 80% of all hunts end in a kill. Members of a pack vocalize to help coordinate their movements. Its voice is characterized by an unusual chirping or squeaking sound, similar to a bird.

After a successful hunt, hunters regurgitate meat for those that remained at the den during the hunt, such as the dominant female and the pups. They will also feed other pack members such as the sick, injured or very old that cannot keep up.

The African Wild Dog’s main prey varies among populations, but always centers around medium-sized ungulates such as the Impala. While the vast majority of its diet is made up of mammal prey, it sometimes hunts large birds, especially Ostriches.[7]

A few packs will also include large animals in their prey, such as the Wildebeest and zebras. Hunting larger prey requires a closely coordinated attack, beginning with a rapid charge to stampede the herd. One wild dog then grabs the victim’s tail, while another attacks the upper lip, and the remainder disembowel the animal while it is immobilised. This behaviour is also used on other large dangerous prey such as the Warthog, the African Buffalo and Giraffe calves and large antelope — even the 1 ton Giant Eland.

Remarkably, this large-animal hunting tactic appears to be a learned behavior, passed on from generation to generation within specific hunting packs, rather than an instinctive behaviour found commonly within the species. Some studies have also shown that other information, such as the location of watering holes, may be passed on in a similar fashion.

(110) Kruger National Park, South Africa. African wild dog, or lycaon. (Cane selvatico africano, o licaone)


Image by (Paolo)
From Wikipedia:

"Lycaon pictus is a canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf.

The African wild dog lives and hunts in large packs. Like most members of the dog family, it is a cursorial hunter, meaning that it pursues its prey in a long, open chase. Nearly 80% of all wild dog hunts end in a kill; for comparison, the success rate of lions, often viewed as ultimate predators, is only 30%.

Members of a pack vocalize to help coordinate their movements. Its voice is characterized by an unusual chirping or squeaking sound, similar to a bird. Wild dogs frequently kill larger prey by disemboweling, a technique that is rapid but has caused this species to have a negative, ferocious reputation. After a successful hunt, the hunters will regurgitate meat for those that remained at the den during the hunt including the dominant female, the pups, the sick or injured, the old and infirm, and those who stayed back to guard the pups.

Studies indicate that this large-animal hunting tactic may be a learned behavior, passed on from generation to generation within specific hunting packs, rather than an instinctive behaviour. Some studies have also shown that other information, such as the location of watering holes, may be passed on similarly.

The African wild dog is an endangered species due to habitat loss and poaching. It uses very large territories (and so can persist only in large wildlife protected areas), and it is strongly affected by competition with larger carnivores that rely on the same prey base, particularly the lion and the Spotted Hyena. While the adult wild dogs can usually outrun the larger predators, lions often will kill as many wild dogs and cubs at the brooding site as they can but do not eat them. One-to-one the hyena is much more powerful than the wild dog but a large group of wild dogs can successfully chase off a small number of hyenas because of their teamwork. It is also killed by livestock herders and game hunters, though it is typically no more (perhaps less) persecuted than other carnivores that pose more threat to livestock. Most of Africa’s national parks are too small for a pack of wild dogs, so the packs expand to the unprotected areas, which tend to be ranch or farm land. Ranchers and farmers protect their domestic animals by killing the wild dogs. Like other carnivores, the African wild dog is sometimes affected by outbreaks of viral diseases such as rabies, distemper, and parvovirus. Although these diseases are not more pathogenic or virulent for wild dogs, the small size of most wild dog populations makes them vulnerable to local extinction due to diseases or other problems.

There were once approximately 500,000 African wild dogs in 39 countries, and packs of 100 or more were not uncommon. Now there are only about 3,000–5,500 in fewer than 25 countries, or perhaps only 14 countries."

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(Da Wikipedia:

"Il licaone è un canide che si trova solo in Africa, specialmente nelle savane e nelle zone poco boscose. E’ variamente chiamato "cane selvatico africano", cane cacciatore africano", "cane cacciatore del Capo", "cane colorato", "cane cacciatore colorato", "cane striato", o "lupo ornato"

Il licaone vive e caccia in grossi branchi. Come la maggior parte dei membri della famiglia canina, è un cacciatore rapido, cioè insegue le sue prede in una caccia lunga e aperta. Quasi l’80% delle cacce del licaone termina con l’uccisione della preda; per confronto, il tasso di successo dei leoni, spesso considerati i massimi predatori, è solo del 30%.

I membri di un branco emettono dei suoni che li aiutano a coordinare i movimenti. La voce è caratterizzata da uno strano cinguettio o squittio, simile a quello di un uccello. I licaoni spesso uccidono le prede più grandi per sventramento, una tecnica rapida, ma che causa loro una cattiva reputazione di ferocia. Dopo una caccia che abbia avuto successo, i cacciatori rigurgitano la carne per quelli che sono rimasti dentro la tana, incluse le femmine dominanti, i cuccioli, i malati o feriti, i vecchi e gli infermi, e quelli che sono rimasti indietro a sorvegliare i cuccioli.

Gli studi indicano che le tecniche di caccia sono un comportamento acquisito, trasmesso di generazione in generazione insieme a specifici insegnamenti di caccia, piuttosto che un comportamento istintuale. Qualche studio ha mostrato che anche altre informazioni, come la localizzazione delle pozze d’acqua, vengono trasmesse in modo simile.

Il licaone è una specie in estinzione a causa della perdita d’habitat e della caccia di frodo. Utilizza territori molto grandi (potendo quindi persistere solo in grandi aree protette), ed è molto colpito dalla competizione con carnivori più grandi che hanno le stesse prede, soprattutto il leone e la iena maculata. Anche se i licaoni sono di solito più veloci dei predatori più grandi, i leoni spesso ne uccidono più che possono (licaoni e cuccioli) dentro la tana, pur non mangiandoli. La iena è molto più possente del licaone, ma grazie al lavoro di gruppo un grosso gruppo di licaoni può scacciare con successo un piccolo numero di iene. Viene ucciso anche dai cacciatori per i pericoli legati al bestiame, anche se non viene tipicamente perseguitato di più (forse di meno) di altri carnivori che creano maggiori minacce per il bestiame. La maggior parte dei parchi nazionali africani è troppo piccola per un branco di licaoni, così i branchi si espandono in aree non protette, come ranch o fattorie. I proprietari dei ranch ed i contadini proteggono i propri animali domestici uccidendo i licaoni. Come gli altri carnivori, i licaoni sono talora interessati da epidemie di malattie virali come la rabbia, il cimurro ed i parvovirus. Sebbene queste malattie non siano molto patologiche o virulente per i licaoni, la piccola dimensione delle popolazioni li rende vulnerabili all’estinzione locale per malattia o altre problematiche.

Esistevano un tempo approssimativamente 500.000 licaoni in 39 nazioni, e branchi di 100 o più non erano infrequenti. Oggi ne sono rimasti solo circa 3000-5500 in meno di 25 nazioni, o forse solo in 14 nazioni.")

African Wild Dog