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Introduction
The species represents a unique line, the loss of which would mean the loss of millions of years of evolution. The African wild dog is Red Listed by the IUCN as an endangered species.
Many people now realise that the African wild dog is, without question, the most exciting African predator to observe while on safari.
They’re commonly called “African wild dogs”, an unfortunate name suggesting “house pets gone bad”. In fact, Lycaon pictus, the lone species in its genus, is utterly wild and only distantly related to our domestic dog or any other canid. Wild dogs most closely resemble wolves in their social behaviour, though they seem more gentle. They are like wolves too, in that humans have vilified and persecuted them into extinction over most of their range. The African wild dog is, after the Ethiopian wolf, the most endangered carnivore in Africa.
Distribution
Wild dogs once roamed throughout sub-Saharan Africa in every habitat except jungle or desert. But they hang on now in just a few isolated pockets, with a total population estimated at fewer than 5,600 animals. They are nearly as endangered as the black rhino, but less celebrated.
Over the last 50 years the wild dog has disappeared from 25 of the 39 countries in which it was formally recorded. Currently, only a handful of wild dog populations still enjoy the freedom of wilderness areas. Most of these populations are found in northern Botswana, north-east Namibia, western and northern Zimbabwe, southern Tanzania and the Kruger N.P., while small, but hopefully viable populations occur also in Kafue N.P. and the Luangwa Valley N.P. in Zambia. Recently, encouraging reports of wild dogs have emerged from Mozambique, Senegal and Cameroon contain small populations which may be viable.
Description
Unmistakable and unique colour patterns with splotches of yellow, black and white, covering the entire body (painted dogs). Shoulder height 61-78 cm. Weight 20-35 kgr. Whereas body markings differ from one wild dog to the next, the powerful muzzle is unvariably black.
Reproduction
Wild dogs are seasonal, co-operative breeders. The time of maturing is variable. Usually only the alpha female produces puppies and the other pack members help to raise them by regurgitating meat to them and guarding.
The pack stay at the den and for the first four weeks of their lives wild dog puppies remain underground and exist entirely on their mother’s milk. At four to five weeks they start to emerge from the den and receive meat from the other pack members.
A wild dog pack usually starts with a group of brothers joining a group of sisters from somewhere else. From this union a dominant male and female quickly emerge and the rest of the new pack members commit their lives and energies to the raising of pups produced by the dominant pair.
The number of adults and yearlings in each pack varies locally. Total pack size, including pups, can be quite variable and will depend on pack fecundity and pup survival.
Successful packs can have more than 30 members, but generally not for long.
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Description
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Gestation
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Litter size average
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Lactation
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69-73 days
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7 to 10 puppies
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10 weeks
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Social behaviour
African wild dogs are highly social mammals that live in packs composed of several related adult males and several related adult females originating from a different pack.
Their social nature is due not simply to a preference for the company of an extended family, but to the fact that their survival is totally dependent on it.
Threats
The African wild dog is one of the world’s most endangered predators. Human persecution and the loss of both habitat and prey are the major causes of the decline of the wild dog.
And, in the absence of their preferred prey, impala or other small antelopes, wild dogs may occasionally kill and eat livestock. Armed with few alternatives, livestock owners regularly use lethal control, particularly shooting, to protect their animals.
Wild dogs are often exposed to road accidents, accidental snaring and disease-transmission from domestic dogs (canine distemper, rabies and antrax).
The most importing natural factors in limiting wild dog numbers are predation by lions and the stealing of food by spotted hyaenas (kleptoparasitism).
The wild dog is legally protected in many areas, but enforcement is uniformly poor and local resentment against the wild dog is strong. Protection of the species is particularly difficult. Outside of protected areas, wild dogs are frequently shot, yet no reserve appears large enough to contain the nomadic wanderings of even a small population of wild dogs.
Conservation measures
Wild dogs are a “flagship”species. To survive wild dogs need large natural areas to maintain viable populations, such as the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania and the Okavango in Botswana.
Preserving the integrity of conservation areas of more than 10,000 square kilometres of suitable habitat is the single most important measure for wild dog conservation. Such huge areas are shrinking daily by expanding human and livestock populations.
The conservation priority that has emerged from the research is to expand wild dog territories beyond the boundaries of protected areas. To do this, we need first to educate farmers about livestock management practices that are compatible with the dogs ranging behaviour, and secondly to provide them with alternatives to lethal control.
It is important that landowners, ranchers and local communities consider the potential economic value of African wild dogs in their land. Wild dogs are a charismatic species and represent a potential tourist attraction. Tourists could bring social and economic welfare in the surroundings of conservation areas. This is an additional, but very important, responsibility of parkmanagers, governments and touroperators.
We also need education and community awareness programs for local communities.
Summary for conservation actions and research (IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group
- targeting of conservation effort to areas with the greatest long-term chances of sustaining wild dog populations across a substantial proportion of their geographic range
- resolution of conflicts between people and wild dogs
- development of techniques to reduce disease risks to wild dogs
© 2004 African Wild Dog S.O.S. Fund
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