Meet the African Wild Dog
Welcome back to my blog! This week I will cover the largest wild canine in the sub-Saharan desert, the African wild dog. This beautiful creature, scientifically known as the Lycaon pictus, has been classified by the IUCN as endangered in their native land of sub-Sahara Africa. This species can be distinguished from a domestic canine by its long legs and rounded ears. The long legs help with running up to 44 mph, and the rounded ears help hear other dogs in the distance. Both domesticated dogs and the African wild dog descended from wolves, however, the African wild dog cant interbreed and cant be domesticated. Many people will refer to this creature in Africa as a “painted hunting dog” and “cape hunting dog." According to Canids.org, there are approximately an estimated 6,600 adults in 39 subpopulations, of which only 1,400 are mature individuals. An interesting fact about this species is that the packs live in a matriarchal structure, meaning that there are up to 30 members in a pack all answering to one female.
As mentioned earlier, the African wild dog is native to the sub-Sahara region of Africa from mountain summits to desserts. African Wild Dogs are described as generalist predators, which means they occupy a range of habitats including short-grass plains, semi-desert, bushy savannas, and upland forests. Below is a distribution map from Canids.org.
Surprisingly, the African wild dog plays a critical role in the sub-Sahara ecosystem, eliminating sick and weak animals. When African wild dogs kill sick or weak prey it helps maintain and balance a natural population amount of prey species. Since they hunt for a wide variety of prey, including gazelles and other antelopes, warthogs, wildebeest calves, rats, and birds, they play a critical role in balancing many species populations.
The main cause of a decline in the African wild dog population, like most endangered animals, is habitat destruction caused by humans. Many experts believe that if African wild dogs don’t have a protected area to live in soon, they will go extinct. This species has a difficult time coexisting in the same environment that has a lot of human contacts. Another problem is this species moves in packs across vast distances, hunting for food. With more human interaction and industrialization, the protected area will begin to decrease causing packs to venture past the border of the safe zone. If conservation plans aren't successful soon, it will be a short time before the African wild dog goes extinct from human contact.
If the African wild dog disappears, their prey's population sizes could begin to grow at exponential rates. Since the African wild dog moves in packs for prey, they don’t ever deplete too much of a population of prey species in one specific area. Their pack hunting nature requires a large area of land to explore and kill.
Current solutions to conserve this species include many different strategies to limit human contact. Mitigating human-wildlife conflict is the first step to saving this species. The African wildlife foundation is working with communities to create bomas, or livestock enclosures, that protect livestock from predators. When farmers are faced with Wild dogs killing their livestock, oftentimes they will kill them. The foundation has also created a way to monitor pack movements to anticipate and prevent contact with humans. The Painted Dog conservation works to rehabilitate and provide a home for the African wild dogs after they have been injured by poachers. The organization also has an anti-poaching force that works to remove all snares (traps) that have been set by poachers.
A geographer could use a global mapper to map areas of Africa where large packs of African wild dogs tend to travel to plan for future conservation efforts and limit poaching. Since the African wild dogs move in packs, the use of a geospatial tool to track certain packs would be helpful to rehabilitators who then could track and evaluate packs for any injured dogs.
It is only a matter of time and effort to save this beautiful and ferocious creature. Below are 5 ways YOU can get involved to help.
1. Attend the Conservation Travel Africa trip to get involved firsthand in saving the African wild dog. If you wish to attend and volunteer, you will assist in a team that will implement anti-poaching measures, relocate and reintroduce wildlife to the ecosystem, and even monitors endangered species.
https://conservationtravelafrica.org/volunteering-in-africa/conservation-programmes/endangered-wildlife-conservation/
2. Adopt an African wild dog from the WWF. The money from purchasing the adoption kit goes directly to current efforts to save this species.
https://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions/African-Wild-Dog.aspx?sc=AWY1705OQ18316A01275RX
3. Donate to Painted Dog Conservation: https://donate.wildnet.org/?fund=Painted_Dog__
Your donation will go to the following:
• $50 - Provides materials for the Iganyana Arts Center.
• $150 - Feeds the orphaned and injured dog at our rehabilitation facility.
• $250 - Pays for one month’s fuel for the Education Programme vehicle.
• $350 - Provides one month's salary for one APU member.
• $400 - Feeds the dogs in our rehab for one month.
• $800 - Buys one protective radio collar for a painted dog.
• $2,700 - Pays for one classroom of 45 children to attend bush camp.
• $5,000 - Keeps our Research and Monitoring team in the field for a month.
• $10,000 - Will provide for the annual upkeep of our Children’s Bush Camp or Rehabilitation Facility.
• $15,000 - Will help drill and establish a borehole in one of the local rural communities where it's needed most.
4. Spread the word on social media about the decline in the African wild dog population. Follow PaintedDog.org on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaintedDogsZimbabwe/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaintedDogPDC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/painted_dog_conservation/
5. Sign up for the African wild dog newsletter to get updates on how to get involved.
https://www.painteddog.org/our-blog
African Wild Dog | African Wildlife Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved June 7, 2021, from https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/african-wild-dog
African wild dog | Canids. (n.d.). Retrieved June 7, 2021, from https://www.canids.org/species/view/PREKNU724601
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