The African Wild Dogs Endangered Species Found In 25 Countries

The African Wild Dogs, as they are popularly called are found only in Africa. Also known as African Hunting Dog or Painted Dog, they are now endangered because of fast diminishing of habitat as well as lack of hunting. There were around 50,000 of the species found across 39 countries in Africa. But the figure has steeply declined to 3000 across 25 countries.

The African wild dogs are generally like the size of medium or large size domestic dogs. The height of these wild dogs is around 30 inches up to the shoulder and their length from head to tail is around 52-58 inches. The wild dogs are scattered from south of the Sahara desert specially the Savannah region, except for the forest areas. The average height of an African wild dog is around 30 inches they are found in yellow black and white irregular pattern furs. Each of their patterns is distinct from another wild dog. They have a big head like that of hyenas.

The African wild dogs generally stay in packs. A pack can consist as many as 5-20 of them but sometimes can go up to 60 of them. They generally require a large area for their territory. The dominant male and female in the pack only reproduce and the rest of the pack help to bring up the young ones. The female gives birth in underground dens. The wild dogs have no fixed breeding time, they breed all around the year but March to June is the peak season. The female can give birth to litter of 2-19 pups but the average is 10 pups a litter. The pups remain dependent for 12-14 months. The females then leave the pack and join another pack, which lacks a sexually dominant female. The male ones generally stay with the pack.

The African Wild Dogs live up to 9 – 10 years. They are carnivores and are expert hunters. The wild dogs always hunt in packs and their attacks are very skillfully co-coordinated. They charge rapidly to take on their preys. Their preys include impalas, gazelle, zebras, warthogs, cape buffaloes, big antelopes and even giraffe calves. The wild dogs can run up to 35 mph but cannot keep up this speed for more than 3 miles at this speed. They largely rely on their sight for hunting so they hunt during dawn or at dusk. The wild dogs go for hunting every day and the young ones accompany the pack. The packs allow the young ones to feed on they prey first.

The African Wild Dogs are now bred in captive to check their diminishing population. PDC or Painted Dog Conservation in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe is working with the local people to help the conservation of wild dogs. The wild dogs population are scattered across Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, Kruger national Park in South Africa, and some parts of Botswana, Nambia, Kenya, Zambia and Mozambique. African Wild Dog