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The flicking of large, round ears amongst the grass is often the giveaway that there is a pile of snoozing wild dogs in the vicinity. Any such surprise encounter is generally followed by much excitement on the behalf of the spotters; these slender canines, the athletes of the wilderness, are rare and hard to find as they live in very extensive home ranges. They are also the second most endangered carnivores in Africa (after the Ethiopian wolf). Watching a pack is some of the best safari entertainment you could hope for; whether it’s playful puppies bundling out of the den, adults frolicking in water or moving as an intent unit through the wild, whether trying to keep up with dogs on a hunt or watching them engage with the ever-present menace of spotted hyenas.
Join safari guide, Kris “Harri” Harrison as she travels to &BEYOND’s magnificent wildlife destinations and discovers the packs of painted wolves that inhabit them.
A pack of African
wild dogs
Adapted from Game Ranger in your Backpack © Megan Emmett
The large, round ears act like satellite dishes and effect acute hearing, a trait necessary for communication during teamwork. Wild dogs’ twitching ears in the grass often betray their presence.
Heavy skulls with powerful muscles actuate the strong lower jaw bone and bite. Upper incisors wear into sharp canine-like teeth to grip and the sharp carnassial sheer cuts through meat while feeding.
Wild dogs have very well developed nasal passages that facilitate breathing during long chases. They also have good eyesight employed to spot prey during the dawn and twilight hours when they hunt.
Every dog has a unique dappled coat. This pelt earned them the name “painted wolf” (or Lycaon pictus). The mottling allows them to virtually disappear when resting in the shade of grass or trees.
As a following mechanism, wild dogs have white-tipped tails, useful when running through tall grass. The tail also communicates mood, an important cue for such highly social animals.
Wild dogs typically live in savanna woodlands or broken hilly country with open plains. They hunt small to medium-sized antelope, especially impala, but they may also take kudu, duiker and steenbok, and occasionally even larger species like wildebeest, zebra and small buffalo. They are crepuscular, using the cool dawn or dusk hours to hunt.
Wild dogs hunt by coursing; chasing prey to exhaustion and then disembowelling it. They can run at 50-60 kmph (30-37 mph) for several kilometres. The kill is very quick and the pack can consume an adult impala carcass in just 15 mins. Eating rapidly helps them avoid unwanted attention from predators like lion, leopard and hyena, which steal kills.
There are no territorial boundaries to speak of since they are nomadic, with home ranges exceeding 450 km2 (170 mi²). They move to follow game or avoid enemies but become sedentary from May-July when breeding. Wild dogs defend their den and the alpha pair use anal-dragging to mark a home range. The rest of the pack mark with urine and body rubbing.
Excited bird-like twittering announces the hunt or a successful kill. Dogs remain in contact or reunite with a melodic “hoo”. The alarm is raised with a growl-bark. African wild dogs have a ritualised greeting ceremony and the begging used by puppies is integrated into adult communication too, for pack appeasement, suppressing potential aggression.
Wild dogs live in super-organised, cooperative societies. All dogs show submission to the alpha pair and puppies are the most privileged members of the pack. Being relatively small, working together enhances their efficiency at catching prey or raising large litters. They are not diminutive predators and stand up to other larger predators, especially when they outnumber them.
Wild dogs live in packs of a few up to 30 dogs but the alpha pair are the only breeding members. The other dogs assist with hunting and raising the often large litters of pups. Litters incorporate into the pack until it becomes too large, then same-sex groups break away to join up with other break-away units. Individuals have a shared genetic interest in raising litters.
At the end of the dry season, a pack of dogs will den in a disused aardvark burrow. Up to 21 pups – blind and helpless at birth – have been recorded in a single litter. If the den is compromised in any way, the female moves her pups to a new site, picking them up by a convenient body part. By 2,5 months old, the pups are ready to leave the den site, straggling behind the adults while they hunt.
Pack members perform different functions: guarding the den and pups, or hunting to provide for them. All adults groom the puppies and keep them together for safety. Meat is taken back to the den in the dogs’ stomachs and regurgitated for the puppies and baby-sitter with much excitement and begging. Hungry adults beg food from the hunters, whining, licking and nudging the provider’s face.
Like the energetic adults that they will one day become, wild dog puppies are full of enthusiasm, hiding inside the den while the adults go out to hunt, but getting up to playful mischief when the adults are in attendance. The adults themselves enjoy a romp, particularly when there is water around, and they will run, splash and engage one another in a delightful manner. This has hygiene benefits too.
Strategy is better than strength
African proverb