African Wild Dogs

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A Determined Survivor. The African wild dog or Cape hunting dog, Lycaon pictus, can trace its ancestry back millions of years into the past. It is one of the Canidae family and members of this family, which includes wolves, coyotes, dingoes and foxes, occur in a variety of habitats across the world. Of the five Canid species in the southern African region - the wild dog, black-backed jackal, side-striped jackal, Cape Fox and bat-eared fox - the wild dog is the largest and is purely meat eating. The other four include insects and a variety of plant material in their diet. While there is a general similarity between the various Canids worldwide, the wild dog differs from the others in a fundamental way. It belongs to the genus, Lycaon, which formed a new branch on the family tree some three million years ago and subsequently evolved completely independently. Today they are the only survivors of this unique line and because of their genetic difference are unable to interbreed with any of their Canid relatives - wolves, foxes, jackals - or even the domestic dog (Canis familiaris)
Pictus means ‘painted’ in Latin and explains the dogs’ more evocative name of African painted wolves. To add to their mystique they are known locally as Wildehond (Afrikaans), !//haru (Bushman), Makanyane (Sotho/Tswana), Matlhalerwa (Tswana), Inkentshane (Zulu) and Dalerwa (Shangaan), to mention a few. All these names describe the same animal – a sleek and slender predator, weighing some 30 kgs when fully grown, with long thin legs, a large head, rounded black ears, a white tipped tail and a marbled coat in various combinations of black, white and tan. Each dog has its own distinctive colour pattern and its designer coat provides excellent camouflage as it moves across the plains, open woodlands and bushy savannahs that it frequents. (Their unique markings have proved invaluable to researchers as a way of identifying different individuals in a study group). Interestingly enough the wild dogs of southern Africa are generally larger and lighter in colour than their cousins further north.
Perhaps the most successful hunter in Africa, it is ironically also one of the most endangered. In the past wild dogs were found in diverse habitats across the continent, with the possible exception of densely forested and extremely arid areas. (It is reported that a climber once encountered several wild dogs on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, at about 6 500 metres).Tragically today they have disappeared from much of their former range and are practically non-existent in West, central and northeast Africa, with a few remnant populations in southern Africa and the southern part of East Africa.Even in these areas their continued presence is under severe threat and their current IUCN Status is listed as ‘endangered with a decreasing population trend’. It is estimated that there are only between 3 000 and 5 500 wild dogs left in the whole of Africa and while South Africa is one of a few African countries with a viable wild dog population it can boast to a mere 500 of these animals! These dismal statistics are largely due to their increasing contact with man. Rapid urbanisation throughout the continent has led to growing human encroachment into the wild dogs’ natural ranges, placing huge pressures on their survival (their behaviour and breeding patterns mean that they need large areas in which to roam, hunt and form new packs). Additional roads naturally follow human settlement and an increasing number of wild dogs are being knocked down and killed by fast moving vehicles. Contact with humans also means contact with their domestic animals and in turn to diseases like canine distemper, rabies and anthrax, which have been known to wipe out entire packs of wild dogs at one time. Perhaps their greatest threat however, continues to be man’s ignorance about them, which has lead to their largely undeserved reputation as wanton killers of game and livestock. Reviled throughout Africa for many years they are still frequently shot or poisoned whenever they are spotted. Next page

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