Wild Dog
Lycaon pictus
Size: | Up to 75cm high |
Habitat: | Savannah and light woodland |
Feeding: | Mammals - gazelles, impala, etc |
The African Wild Dog is also called the African Hunting Dog. It is an endangered species and it is thought that there may be only 3,000 - 5,000 left in the wild.
As the name suggests, it is a dog-like mammal with large ears. The coat is mostly shades of brown with patterns of black, yellow and white. Each dog has a unique coat with a white tip to the tail.
They hunt in packs which allows them to take larger prey than hunting individually, such as Thomson's Gazelle, Impala and even Zebra.
They have a lifespan of 10 years.
The top two photos were taken in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. The third was taken in the Selous National Park, Tanzania.
Click on any of the photographs on this site to see a larger image.