Back Wildehond Afrikaans ኣውሬ ውሻ Amharic سمع (حيوان) Arabic كلب برى افريقى ARZ Lycaon pictus AST Idevol (Lycaon pictus) AVK Afrika çöl iti Azerbaijani لیکاون پیکتوس AZB Lycaon pictus BE-X-OLD Хиеново куче Bulgarian
| African wild dog | |
|---|---|
| |
| African wild dog in South Africa | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | Caninae |
| Tribe: | Canini |
| Genus: | Lycaon |
| Species: | L. pictus
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| Binomial name | |
| Lycaon pictus | |
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| African wild dog range according to the IUCN.
Extant (resident)
Probably extant (resident)
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The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), also known as the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus Lycaon, which is distinguished from Canis by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet and by a lack of dewclaws.
It is estimated that there are around 6,600 adults (including 1,400 mature individuals) living in 39 subpopulations, all threatened by habitat fragmentation, human persecution and outbreaks of disease. As the largest subpopulation probably consists of fewer than 250 individuals, the African wild dog has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990.[2]
The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of terrestrial ungulates, which it captures by using its stamina and cooperative hunting to exhaust them. Its natural competitors are lions and spotted hyenas: the former will kill the dogs where possible whilst the latter are frequent kleptoparasites.[4] Like other canids, the African wild dog regurgitates food for its young but also extends this action to adults as a central part of the pack's social unit.[5][4][6] The young have the privilege of feeding first on carcasses.
The African wild dog has been revered in several hunter-gatherer societies, particularly those of the San people and Prehistoric Egypt.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
MN_Rwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Woodroffe, R. & Sillero-Zubiri, C. (2020) [amended version of 2012 assessment]. "Lycaon pictus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T12436A166502262. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T12436A166502262.en. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
- ^ Temminck (1820), Ann. Gen. Sci. Phys., 3:54, pl.35
- ^ a b "African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus Temminck, 1820) - WildAfrica.cz - Animal Encyclopedia". Wildafrica.cz. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Whittington-Jones, Brendan (2015). African Wild Dogs: On the Front Line. Jacana. ISBN 978-1-4314-2129-9.