The scientific name of the African wild dog is 'lycaon pictus', a latin term meaning 'painted wolf'. *Page last updated in August 2021 by volunteer writer Ami Patrick and Editor Jane Warley.1) African Wild Dogs are known by many different names Creating reserves to protect habitats and populations.Connecting areas of habitat to allow populations to roam further and to allow individuals to move between packs to breed.Campaigning against the bushmeat trade to reduce the number of dogs caught in snares.Monitoring local packs to better understand their movements.Constructing enclosures to protect livestock from predators.Educating local communities to prevent conflict between humans and African wild dogs.How are they protected?Īfrican wild dogs range so widely that conservationists must work together to protect them. They are also vulnerable to diseases such as rabies and canine distemper, which can be caught from domestic dogs. Their hunting technique is so fast and frenzied that many dogs injure their legs during the chase. The biggest natural threats to African wild dogs are lions and broken legs. They are also vulnerable to road accidents. It also brings them into contact with humans who treat them as pests and kill them to protect themselves and their livestock. This puts them at risk of extinction and creates competition between packs.

As our populations grow, we take away their homes, split their habitats in two and take their food for bushmeat. Like many animals, their biggest threat is humans. During hunts, they communicate with high-pitched yapping calls and a distinctive ‘hoo’ call that summons any dogs separated in the chase to the kill.Īfrican Hunting Dogs also communicate through touch and behaviours that many of us would recognise in our own domestic dogs – adults and puppies lick the faces of other pack members in a friendly signal to beg for regurgitated food.Īfrican wild dogs are one of the most endangered carnivores in the world – they occupy less than 17 % of their historical range, and there are only around 6,000 individuals left in the wild. How do packs communicate?Īfrican wild dogs are fantastic communicators – it’s the secret to their hunting success!īefore a hunt, they engage in a noisy ‘warm up’ session where they bound around wagging their tails, licking and rubbing against each other while whining and making twittering calls. They warm up like an athlete, starting with a walk, a trot, and then a run. They don’t run at full speed the whole time, though. Up to 60 km/h! This is slower than their prey, but they have fantastic stamina and can run over large distances, with some chases carrying on for 6 km. Share How fast can African wild dogs run? It is a very successful strategy that has got them the top spot for hunters in Africa -up to 80% of their hunts end in kills. Once the herd stampedes, they follow them and pick out the weakest member, running them to exhaustion and stopping them from rejoining the others. Using their excellent eyesight, they locate a herd and approach in full view during the cooler parts of the day. What they hunt depends on pack size – larger packs can take on bigger prey such as wildebeest or zebra, while smaller packs hunt antelope. What do they hunt?Īfrican wild dogs work together to catch food – they are the ultimate cooperative hunters. When they are not hunting, African wild dogs spend their time resting from the heat near waterholes, their large ears helping to dissipate heat and keep them cool. If there is a lot of food around, they are likely to be smaller, though, as they don’t need to travel so far to find the food they need. Territories can cover an area of over 1,000 km/sq. An alpha pair lead the way and are the only ones who breed. They form strong bonds, and all look out for each other, working together to hunt, protect the territory and look after young, old and injured pack members. What is life in a pack like?Īfrican wild dogs are sociable and live in packs of between 10 to 50 dogs. They have slim bodies, large round ears, black muzzles, long legs, and a tufted tail (usually with a white tip). Their distinctive coats are mottled with black, brown, white and yellow, and each individual’s coat is unique, like a fingerprint! What do African wild dogs look like?Īfrican wild dogs are about the same size as a domestic Labrador. They are at home in the deserts, forests and grasslands of Africa, where they work together to hunt their prey and defend their territory from rivals. African wild dogs go by many names and may be called painted wolves, painted hunting dogs or African hunting dogs.

Woodland wild dogs