African Wild Dog

About the African wild dog

The African wild dog, also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Saharan Africa and the largest wild canine on the continent. It is the only living member of its genus, Lycaon, which is set apart from the genus Canis (which includes wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs) by teeth highly specialized for a hypercarnivorous diet and by the absence of dewclaws. An estimated 6,600 adults remain, including about 1,400 mature individuals, spread across 39 subpopulations. Because the largest of those subpopulations probably holds fewer than 250 animals, the species has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990.

Physically, the African wild dog is the bulkiest and most solidly built of Africa's wild canids, standing 60 to 75 cm (24–30 in) at the shoulder, with a head-and-body length of 71 to 112 cm (28–44 in) and a tail 29 to 41 cm (11–16 in) long. Adults weigh 18 to 36 kg (40–79 lb), though East African individuals typically run smaller, around 20 to 25 kg (44–55 lb); females are usually 3 to 7% smaller than males. Compared with Canis species, it is leaner and taller, with notably large ears and no dewclaws, and the middle two toe pads on each foot are fused. Its coat is unusual among canids in having no underfur at all, just stiff bristle-hairs, and its coloring is famously variable — patches of black, brown, yellow, and white in patterns that differ from animal to animal and are often asymmetrical between the two sides of the same body. Individuals can recognize each other by coat pattern alone at distances of 50 to 100 m (160–330 ft). Facial markings are more consistent: a black muzzle shading to brown on the cheeks and forehead, with a black line running up the forehead.

The species was first scientifically described in 1820 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck, based on a specimen from the coast of Mozambique, and was originally classified as a hyena before being recognized as a canid in 1827. Its genus name, Lycaon, comes from the Greek word for "wolf-like." The specific name pictus is Latin for "painted," a nod to the animal's patchwork coat. Although "African wild dog" is the most widely used English name, conservation groups have promoted alternatives such as "painted wolf" or "painted dog," on the theory that "wild dog" carries negative connotations that hurt the species' public image.

Behavior and diet

African wild dogs are specialized hunters of terrestrial ungulates, typically hunting at dawn and dusk though also active during the day. They run their prey down using stamina and cooperative hunting rather than a single burst of speed, working together as a pack to exhaust the animal being chased. Lions and spotted hyenas are their main competitors: lions kill wild dogs where they can, and hyenas frequently steal kills outright. Like other canids, adults regurgitate food for pups, but African wild dogs extend that behavior to other adults too, making it a central part of how the pack holds together socially. Pups get first access to carcasses, feeding before the adults.

The species lives in permanent packs of two to 27 adults and yearling pups, though the typical pack in Kruger National Park or the Maasai Mara runs four or five adults, and packs in Moremi and Selous Game Reserves have numbered eight or nine; far larger temporary gatherings of hundreds of individuals have formed around seasonal springbok migrations in southern Africa. Males and females keep separate dominance hierarchies, and a single dominant pair typically monopolizes breeding. Unusually among social carnivores, males stay in their natal pack for life while females disperse to join other packs — a pattern also seen in gorillas, chimpanzees, and red colobus monkeys — and males in a given pack tend to outnumber females roughly three to one. Dispersing females often evict some resident females from the pack they join, which helps prevent inbreeding. The species has an extensive vocal repertoire, including twittering, whining, yelping, squealing, whispering, barking, growling, and moaning.

Breeding timing varies by region: East African populations show no fixed breeding season, while southern African packs typically breed from April through July. Females stay in estrus for up to 20 days, closely guarded by a single male. Gestation lasts 69 to 73 days, with 12 to 14 months typically passing between a female's pregnancies. Litters are large even by canid standards, averaging around ten pups and ranging from six to sixteen — more than any other canid produces.

Range and habitat

The African wild dog occurs mainly in Southern and East Africa. It is rare in North Africa and largely absent from West Africa, with the only potentially viable West African population in Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park and occasional sightings elsewhere in Senegal, Guinea, and Mali. It favors savannas and arid zones and generally avoids forested habitat, likely because effective pack hunting requires open ground with clear sightlines. It does turn up in scrubland, woodland, and montane terrain while pursuing prey, and a forest-dwelling population has been identified in the wet montane Harenna Forest in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains, at elevations up to 2,400 m (7,900 ft). Packs have been recorded even higher in Ethiopia, between 1,900 and 2,800 m (6,200–9,200 ft), with one dead individual found at 4,050 m (13,290 ft) on the Sanetti Plateau, and at least one sighting on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. South Africa's Kruger National Park holds a stable population of more than 370 individuals.

Conservation status

The African wild dog is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, most recently assessed in 2020, and it has held that listing since 1990. An estimated 6,600 adults, including about 1,400 mature individuals, survive across 39 subpopulations, and the largest of those probably holds fewer than 250 animals.

The main threats are habitat fragmentation driven by conflict with people, human persecution, and outbreaks of infectious disease, which can move quickly through a pack given how closely its members live. The species has been wiped out across large parts of North and West Africa and has greatly declined in Central Africa, Uganda and much of Kenya. In the Central African Republic's Chinko area, numbers fell from 160 animals in 2012 to 26 in 2017.

Small, scattered populations create a further problem: wild dogs avoid mating with relatives, so in isolated groups suitable unrelated mates become scarce, which can drag population growth down even further.