African Wild Dog



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The Lycaon Pictus (or African Wild Dog) is a species of canidae, or a type of carnivore that includes dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals, dingos and other dog-like mammals. There are approximately 5000 African Wild Dogs left in existence. They grow to be about one meter long and weigh 40-80 pounds. They live off a carnivorous diet and live for 10-12 years. They are usually light tan colored with dark brown/black spots. 

Species Habitat and Range
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African Wild Dogs used to range from the desert and mountain areas of sub-Saharan Africa with exclusion of the very dry parts of the desert and lowland forests. Because their endangerment has caused a big decline of their numbers and range in Central Africa and Northeast Africa, a majority of their population is now in Southern Africa and South Eastern Africa. Their current ecosystem is primarily woodland, scrublands, and mountainous areas.

Role in Ecosystem
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African Wild Dogs hunt mostly medium-sized antelopes which are much larger than them. They also tend to hunt and feed on Impala, Greater Kudu, Thompson's Gazelle, Wildebeests, Warthogs, Eland, and African Buffalo. This population control of larger animal population promotes biodiversity. They also hunt small prey like hares and lizards. These prey species that mostly feed on plants play a major role in shaping vegetation communitie. African Wild Dogs going extinct would throw these regulations off leading to collapse. 
Cause of Decline
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African Wild Dogs are often hunted due to their status as pests. These animals need a large area to thrive. When a pack expands and moves to areas such as farm lands, they are usually killed by farmers who want to protect their domestic animals. These farmers usually mistakenly blame the African Wild Dog for killing their livestock when it is often due to leopards or hyenas. They are also endangered due to habitat loss because of human overpopulation, disease, and threats from other predators like hyenas and lions. 

Importance and Why We Should Care
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African Wild Dogs are one of Africa's most efficient predators. Wild Dogs play a big role in regulating predator and prey species. African Wild Dogs going extinct would throw these regulations off. Since they feed occasionally on smaller prey species, one result will potentially be an over consumption of vegetation in these vegetation communities, leading the lands to go barren. Another potential and more likely result of their extinction will be an overpopulation of larger predator species, resulting in these species to not have enough prey to share between them all, causing them to starve to death. Saving Wild Dogs is an essential part of slowing the loss of biodiversity and conserving healthy ecosystems. 
Current Conservation Efforts
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Conservation strategies throughout regions in Africa have been developed. These strategies have been used for national action plans of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and Wildlife Service. These strategies include:
  • Promoting land use planning to expand Wild Dog population
    • Expanding Wild Dog protected territory will greatly decrease the amount of dogs hunted 
  • Building space for Wild Dog conservation
  • Outreach to improve public perception of Wild Dogs
  • Projects that are meant to reduce human-wildlife conflict through scientific data on population and location

5 Ways to Help!
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 1. Take action by going sending messages to government leaders about more strict African Wild Dog protection laws

 2. Donate to WWF. They work toward conservation of the African Wild Dog in Eastern Zambia

 3. Promote awareness and spread the word about their endangerment. A reason these animals are endangered is because they  have a bad rep. They are killed for something that most of the time isn't even their fault. Making people more aware of this issue will help.  

 4. Stay informed on the current status of African Wild Dog's endangerment and the progress on restoring their population. Let's get people on board to help them before it's too late!

 5. Donate to the African Wildlife Foundation. They collaborate with the Samburu-Laikipia Dog Project, local communities, and nongovernmental organizations to track Wild Dogs and provide information to the local communities on pack locations with dog radio collars. Since this project started, population has been growing.  

SAVE THE AFRICAN WILD DOG!!!


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