14/02/2022
African Wild Dog
African Wild Dog The African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) is a mammal native only to Africa. It is a member of the canidae family which also includes dogs, coyotes, dingos, jackals and wolves. The African Wild Dog is known by other names such as the Painted Hunting Dog, African Hunting Dog, Cape Hunting Dog and Painted Wolf. In Swahili it is referred to as ‘Mbwa mwilu’.
The African Wild Dogs scientific name ‘Lycaon pictus’ comes from the Greek language for ‘wolf’ and Latin for ‘painted’. The African Wild Dog is the only species in the Genus ‘Lycaon’.
AFRICAN WILD DOG DESCRIPTION
The African Wild Dog has an uniquely patterned coat. The irregular pattern is coloured with white, yellow, brown and black markings. Each pattern is unique to each individual, just like a Giraffes pattern and a humans fingerprints are individually unique. African Wild Dogs have slim, lean bodies and long, slender legs. They have large, rounded distinctive ears and a long tail which has a white plume at the end.
Their muzzles are black and they have a black line which extends down their forehead. African Wild Dogs measure around 1.5 metres (5 feet) in length which includes its head and a tail length of around 30 – 40 centimetres. It stands around 75 centimetres at the shoulder and weighs 37 – 80 pounds.
East and West African dogs tend to be smaller than those in South Africa. Males are usually larger than females in all regions. African Wild Dogs differ from other members of the canidae family in that they only have four toes on each paw instead of five as they lack dew claws (which is the fifth digit on other canids). African Wild Dogs have around 42 teeth including premolars that are much larger than in other canids allowing it to consume large amounts of bone.