Wild dog

Wild dog
(Latin = Lycaon pictus, Afrikaans = Wildehond, German = Hyaenenhund )

(Latin = Lycaon pictus, Afrikaans = Wildehond, German = Hyaenenhund )

Numbers: Very low
Weight: 26 - 28kg (57 - 62 lb.)
Shoulder height: 60 - 78 cm (24 - 31 in.)

Found only in the Kruger National Park and directly neighbouring Parks. Like the wolf of Europe, this one is a pack-animal : they will live, hunt and breed in packs of up to forty animals. Known for its very gruesome hunting style of chasing and chasing and chasing animals which, on a short sprint, would easily outstrip the wild dog, they take turns to do the direct chase, often tearing parts of the body out of the poor victim. In the end, the exhausted prey would stop to defend itself. By sheer numbers they will attack from too many sides to defend. In this non-stop action of blood and dust, the wild dogs will tear apart a living animal! The wild dogs never stays long in the same area and may chase an entire herd of wild animal out of its territory in a short period of time. They might even attack a human being, although a unfamiliar reaction from their prey may prevent a tragedy. Their pups are raised by the whole pack, usually in good shelters like antbear holes where the pack will regurgitate to let the pups eat partially digested food. Both because of their vicious influence on other animals, as well as their very characteristic odour, tracking of these packs of wild dogs have been very successful performed by many an old hunter, which explains in part their low numbers. Other reasons for its endangered status is their vulnerability to sickness, and the strange behavior of some females to kill other mother's puppies.