What Animals Do African Wild Dogs Eat

African Wild Domestic dog

Drawing of African Wild Canis familiaris
Writer: J. G. Keulemans, PD

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Lycaon
Species: Fifty. pictus

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What do African wild dogs wait like?

African wild dogs grow to about the size of a medium to large dog. Fully grown they weigh between forty and 80 pounds and grow to between 30 and 43 inches tall at the shoulders. Unlike other dogs they have four toes on their feet instead of five. They also take fairly big ears, long skinny legs, and a long tail.

Perhaps their nearly unique feature is their coat. It is mottled with blotches of dissimilar colors including white, brownish, black, red, and yellow. They are oft called the painted canis familiaris due to their coats. Each wild dog has a unique design.

African Wild Dog
Author: Mathias Appel, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where do they live?

Today African wild dogs are mostly found in eastern and southern Africa. They once roamed a much larger area of Africa. They primarily live in the savanna grasslands, just can too be establish in woodland and mountain areas in Africa.

What do African wild dogs swallow?

Wild dogs hunt in packs and tin can bring down some large mammals. They volition consume most whatsoever mammal that they can grab and kill including antelopes, impala, wildebeest calves, gazelles, and even large birds like ostriches.

Living in a Pack

African wild dogs alive in an organized pack like to wolves. A typical pack will have between 6 and 20 dogs, just some larger packs do exist. The pack hunts together and offers protection from predators. They have been known to help each other out, sharing nutrient and taking intendance of weaker members. The pack is lead by a dominant male and female pair of dogs.

African Wild Domestic dog
Author: Mathias Appel, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Are they endangered?

Yep, African wild dogs are an endangered species. In that location were once nigh 500,000 of them living in Africa, but today in that location are only betwixt 3,000 and 5,000 living in the wild. The chief threat is loss of habitat due to human population. A single pack of wild dogs needs a fairly large hunting territory to survive. When their territory overlaps with farmers, they are oft killed to protect the livestock.

Fun Facts about the African Wild Dog

They will typically live around 11 years in the wild.
They are some of the most successful hunters bringing downwards around 80% of their targeted casualty. This compares to lions which typically only catch around 30% of their targeted prey.
Other names for these animals include the African hunting dog, the painted hunting dog, and the ornate wolf.
They have 1 of the about powerful bites for their body size of whatsoever beast in the world.
A typical litter will accept around 10 puppies but can accept as few as two and as many every bit xx.
Earlier the pack starts to hunt they jump around in an excited manner. They leap over and dive under each other making excited chirping noises.
The pack stays on the move, rarely staying in one place for more than a day or two.

For more nigh mammals:

Mammals
African Wild Domestic dog
American Bison
Bactrian Camel
Bluish Whale
Dolphins
Elephants
Behemothic Panda
Giraffes
Gorilla
Hippos
Horses
Meerkat
Polar Bears
Prairie Canis familiaris
Cherry Kangaroo
Red Wolf
Rhinoceros
Spotted Hyena