by ●Terminator● » Thu Nov 07, 2013 11:39 pm
Name: Subway
Gender: Male
Facts: The African wild dog, also called Cape hunting dog or painted dog, typically roams the open plains and sparse woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa.
These long-legged canines have only four toes per foot, unlike other dogs, which have five toes on their forefeet. The dog's Latin name means "painted wolf," referring to the animal's irregular, mottled coat, which features patches of red, black, brown, white, and yellow fur. Each animal has its own unique coat pattern, and all have big, rounded ears.
African wild dogs live in packs that are usually dominated by a monogamous breeding pair. The female has a litter of 2 to 20 pups, which are cared for by the entire pack. These dogs are very social, and packs have been known to share food and to assist weak or ill members. Social interactions are common, and the dogs communicate by touch, actions, and vocalizations.
African wild dogs hunt in formidable, cooperative packs of 6 to 20 (or more) animals. Larger packs were more common before the dogs became endangered. Packs hunt antelopes and will also tackle much larger prey, such as wildebeests, particularly if their quarry is ill or injured. The dogs supplement their diet with rodents and birds. As human settlements expand, the dogs have sometimes developed a taste for livestock, though significant damage is rare. Unfortunately, they are often hunted and killed by farmers who fear for their domestic animals.
African hunting dogs are endangered. They are faced with shrinking room to roam in their African home. They are also quite susceptible to diseases spread by domestic animals.
African wild dogs are highly sociable and exhibit a very unusual social system; within their packs, dogs of the same sex are closely related to each other but not to individuals of the opposite sex, and only the dominant male and female will breed (4) (5) (6). Packs vary in size from 2 to 27 individuals and new packs are formed when subgroups of the same sex (usually siblings) disperse and join up with a subgroup of the opposite sex (5), leading to the unusual configuration of the pack. Only the dominant female will give birth to pups, and births may take place throughout the year, although they are more common between March and June (2). Litter size is the largest of any canid, averaging ten pups (2); these are born within dens where they remain for around three months (6). Initially the mother will stay with her pups and when members of the pack return from hunting they regurgitate food for her. As the pups get older however, all pack members help with feeding and ‘baby sitting’ of the young dogs (6). Juveniles are fully independent at 16 to 24 months (6) but remain with their pack, females are more likely to disperse, usually leaving in a sub-group with their sisters once they reach two years old (6).
Outside of the breeding season, African wild dogs are nomadic and wander over large distances in search of prey; home ranges can be as large as 5,000 square kilometres, but are often restricted to areas of less than 200 square kilometres (2). These dogs are carnivorous and hunt their prey by cooperating closely in a group (2). This strategy enables them to hunt prey comprising antelope and ungulates much larger than themselves, to include kudu bulls and wildebeest weighing up to 250 kilograms, as well as ensuring their hunting success is much higher than that of other large carnivorous species (2). Packs set out to hunt in the cool of dawn and dusk, avoiding other predators such as lions. The victim is pulled to the ground and the group descends to feed; pups in the pack are allowed to eat first
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