Overview of the African Wild Dog

African Wild Dogs, also called African Hunting Dog, Cape Hunting Dog, Painted Dog, Painted Wolf, Painted Hunting Dog, Spotted Dog, or Ornate Wolfs are canines in Africa. The African wild dog’s scientific name “Lycaon pictus” comes from the Greek word for wolf and the Latin word for painted.

African wild dogs typically weigh between 40 and 75 pounds, and stands at 2.5 feet at the shoulder. It had a body length of over 3 feet, and a tail length of 1 to 1.5 feet. Interestingly, the African wild dogs from southern Africa are generally larger than those from either eastern or western Africa.

The African wild dog is a pack animal. Like the rest of the canine family, it pursues its prey in a long hunts in packs. Like most members of the dog family, African wild dogs pursue their prey in a long open chase. They have a very high success rate, with nearly 80% of their hunts ending in a kill. Lions, on the other hand, only have a success rate of only 30%. There were once roughly 500,000 African wild dogs in 39 countries. However, now there are only about 3,000 to 5,500 in fewer than 25 countries.

About the Author
Jacob Maddox manages content for Wildlife Animals http://www.wildlife-animals.com an educational wildlife and animal website. Jacob also guest writes for Dog Pound http://www.dog-pound.net