Wild dogs
All rights reserved.
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Botswana
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
African Wild Dogs are very social animals that live in packs of 5-20 individuals; rarely as many as 60. They fill the ecological role or niche of the wolf in Africa. One of the most efficient of all predators, they do not hesitate to attack small hares or large zebras. They specialize in preying on medium-sized antelope including Thomson's gazelle, impala, kob, lechwe and springbok.
This species does not hunt in relays but rather depends on endurance that is greater than their prey.
They hunt mainly around dawn and dusk because they rely on sight when hunting. The pack will hunt at least once a day. If there are youngsters present at the kill, the adults will allow them to eat first unlike lions.
They do not defend territories except in the vicinity of occupied dens. Only the dominant breeding pair urine mark. There is very little overt aggression among pack members.
The social arrangement is extraordinary because they are the exact opposite of those in most other social mammals such as lions and elephants.
Babies develop for 72 days before the mother gives birth in an underground den. As many as 12 pups may be born in a litter; a majority of those being male, but only a few usually survive. Pups at birth are all black and white. The tan patches develop from the black areas beginning in the second month. The pups eyes open at 3 weeks, but they will not emerge from the den until they start to eat solid food regurgitated by the adults.
Only the dominant male and female in the pack (the alpha pair) reproduce. The entire pack is needed to help feed the large litter of young that are dependent for 12-14 months. The adults eat at their kill site, then return to the den and regurgitate meat as food for the young. Adult males stay with the birth pack.
Unlike other animals, females between 14 and 30 months of age will leave their natal pack in groups of littermate sisters. They will eventually join a different male kin line. (www.honoluluzoo.org/african_hunting_dog.htm)
No publication without written permission of the photographer.
Location: Botswana
Photographer: © Pia Dierickx
African Wild Dogs are very social animals that live in packs of 5-20 individuals; rarely as many as 60. They fill the ecological role or niche of the wolf in Africa. One of the most efficient of all predators, they do not hesitate to attack small hares or large zebras. They specialize in preying on medium-sized antelope including Thomson's gazelle, impala, kob, lechwe and springbok.
This species does not hunt in relays but rather depends on endurance that is greater than their prey.
They hunt mainly around dawn and dusk because they rely on sight when hunting. The pack will hunt at least once a day. If there are youngsters present at the kill, the adults will allow them to eat first unlike lions.
They do not defend territories except in the vicinity of occupied dens. Only the dominant breeding pair urine mark. There is very little overt aggression among pack members.
The social arrangement is extraordinary because they are the exact opposite of those in most other social mammals such as lions and elephants.
Babies develop for 72 days before the mother gives birth in an underground den. As many as 12 pups may be born in a litter; a majority of those being male, but only a few usually survive. Pups at birth are all black and white. The tan patches develop from the black areas beginning in the second month. The pups eyes open at 3 weeks, but they will not emerge from the den until they start to eat solid food regurgitated by the adults.
Only the dominant male and female in the pack (the alpha pair) reproduce. The entire pack is needed to help feed the large litter of young that are dependent for 12-14 months. The adults eat at their kill site, then return to the den and regurgitate meat as food for the young. Adult males stay with the birth pack.
Unlike other animals, females between 14 and 30 months of age will leave their natal pack in groups of littermate sisters. They will eventually join a different male kin line. (www.honoluluzoo.org/african_hunting_dog.htm)