WILD Hunting Dogs - Brief Article

PSA Journal, July, 2000 by Lloyd J. Bever

(Lycaon Pictus)

Luck is the predominant ingredient if the African safarist is to encounter a pack of these highly enigmatic vagabonds of the African plains. The wooded savannas of southern Africa are prime habitat for the endangered wild hunting dog. Many safarists, even after several trips to South Africa, have never seen a wild hunting dog. The Serengeti, for example, has an estimated 80-200 dogs left. Moremi Reserve is a particularly good area to observe wild dogs. It was in Moremi that we were able to observe a pack of 51 dogs, the largest pack in Africa. They are very curious, intelligent, social animals that are not at all bothered by safari vehicles. Lions, cheetahs, and leopards kill by strangulation, whereas wild hunting dogs and hyenas kill by ripping their victim apart.

The African wild dog is the least typical canid. It has a short, powerful muzzle that houses an impressive array of shearing teeth for disemboweling its victims. It has lost the fifth digit on the front feet unlike others of the dog family. The large, rounded ears are used in signaling to other dogs while hunting and in controlling body temperature. Mangy and bad smelling, the blackish or brindled-blotchy wild hunting dog-the wolf of Africa- is immensely clever. There is no variation between sexes and little variation between populations. They usually run in packs of 7-20 animals. They are only slightly larger than a jackal.

These animals roam many miles every day over large territories, sometimes the territories overlapping other packs. Larger packs will drive away the smaller packs. Hunting by these exclusively carnivorous animals is highly organized and always a genuine group effort. The dogs gather amid much tail-wagging, nuzzling, and friendly licking of faces. This is probably derived from the habit of young pups begging for regurgitated food. When the entire group is thus engaged and the moods of the individuals are suitably synchronized into coherent excitement, the pack sets off together. They run at speeds up to 37 miles per hour, sustaining these speeds for three miles or so.

The prey herd is approached slowly, although no real stalking occurs. The dogs watch carefully for appropriate targets, usually selecting young or weak animals that can be overtaken in a straight chase. As soon as the herd starts to run--and the appearance of wild dogs is enough to send most herds into a panic - the dogs give chase. A series of well-coordinated flanking movements, particularly with game such as antelope that tend to run zig-zag or in a wide arc, enable fresher dogs to come up from the rear to replace tired lead dogs. The dogs regularly bring down even large game. An adult wildebeest can be dispatched with remarkable ease. Large prey are held by the nose and tail and then disemboweled by the formidable jaws and teeth of other dogs, often while the prey is still standing. Larger packs often hunt twice a day, usually early morning or late afternoon in order to satiate all animals in the pack. Occasionally, wild dogs hunt after dark. The pack does not fail very often - it is a genuine natural killing machine, as it were. Their hunting activities seem to be almost a social tradition. The success rate of wild hunting dogs is much better that that of either the lion or the hyena.

Despite the general excitement shown at kills, these successful hunters do not quarrel. There is no feeding frenzy. The younger dogs present seem to be given priority and those not eating, more or less patiently wait their turn. Adults will return to the den and will feed guard dogs by regurgitation. Indeed, here is the essence of social hunting. No pride of lions ever behaves like this and no clan of hyenas exhibits the same skill or confidence.

Only when members of a pack have young pups, which are raised in an underground aardvark or wild pig den for about 3 months, are the wild hunting dogs temporarily stationary. Litters are large - up to ten pups being the average after a gestation period of 70-73 days. Adult males do most of the work caring for the young after weaning, not the normal rule in nature. Pups are weaned by about 10 weeks, but rely on the pack until they can fend for themselves at about 14 months. At 3 months of age the pups begin to roam with the pack. The females between 14 and 30 months are the ones to leave the pack to set up new packs with other males. Most males born in a pack will remain there through their 10 years or so of life. In fact, wild hunting dogs are extremely sociable creatures. There is little discernible friction ever within the pack.

The most reliable evidence would indicate that the pack is strictly regimented when it comes to reproduction. The adult males and adult females in a pack have separate dominance hierarchies with the dominant pair staying close to each other and monopolizing reproduction. About once a year-often at a time of relative food abundance, the dominant male mates the dominant female. Any aggression is usually by the dominant bitch or alpha female against subordinate females with pups, sometimes killing the latter's pups. However, the essentially cooperative nature of the pack keeps a tight lid on aggression. Animals are playful and seem to enjoy tugging, pulling and nipping at each other. Their intelligence is evident in their teasing activities as well.