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Concept
African wild dog
Summary
The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), also known as the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus Lycaon, which is distinguished from Canis by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet, and by a lack of dewclaws. It's estimated that there are around 6,600 adults (including 1,400 mature individuals) living in 39 subpopulations that are all threatened by habitat fragmentation, human persecution, and outbreaks of disease. As the largest subpopulation probably comprises fewer than 250 individuals, the African wild dog has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990.
The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of ungulates, which it captures by using its stamina and cooperative hunting to exhaust them. Its natural competitors are lions and spotted hyenas: the former will kill the dogs where possible, whilst the latter are frequent kleptoparasites.
Like other canids, the African wild dog regurgitates food for its young, but also extends this action to adults, as a central part of the pack's social unit. The young have the privilege to feed first on carcasses.
The African wild dog has been respected in several hunter-gatherer societies, particularly those of the San people and Prehistoric Egypt.
The English language has several names for the African wild dog, including African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, and painted lycaon. Though the name "African wild dog" is widely used, "wild dog" is thought by conservation groups to have negative connotations that could be detrimental to its image; one organisation promotes the name "painted wolf",
while the name "painted dog" has been found to be the most likely to counteract negative perceptions.
The earliest written reference for the species appears to be from Oppian, who wrote of the thoa, a hybrid between the wolf and leopard, which resembles the former in shape and the latter in colour.
Official source
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