African wild dog
The African wild dog ("Lycaon pictus") is a canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus "Lycaon", which is distinguished from "Canis" by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet, and a lack of dewclaws. It is estimated that about 6,600 adults (including 1,400 mature individuals) live in 39 subpopulations that are all threatened by habitat fragmentation, human persecution and outbreaks of diseases. As the largest subpopulation probably consists of less than 250 individuals, the African wild dog has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990.

The African wild dog is a highly social animal, living in packs with separate dominance hierarchies for males and females. Uniquely among social carnivores, the females rather than the males disperse from the natal pack once sexually mature. The young are allowed to feed first on carcasses. The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of antelopes, which it catches by chasing them to exhaustion. Like other canids, the African wild dog regurgitates food for its young, but this action is also extended to adults, to the point of being central to their social life. Its natural enemies are lions and hyenas: the former will kill the canids where possible, whilst hyenas are frequent kleptoparasites.

Although not as prominent in African folklore or culture as other African carnivores, it has been respected in several hunter-gatherer societies, particularly those of the predynastic Egyptians and the San people.
Q2474088
canine
Concept
Q169480
native species
Concept
Q132959
sub-Saharan Africa
LOC
None
extant
UNK
Q34740
genus
Concept
Q12061410
Lycaon
Concept
Q149892
Canis
Concept
Q2242964
hypercarnivorous
Concept
Q2302901
dewclaw
UNK
Q913302
habitat fragmentation
Concept
Q11394
endangered
Concept
Q32059
IUCN Red List
Concept
Q3307505
social animal
Concept
Q1758639
pack
Concept
Q1438403
dominance hierarchies
Concept
Q4284186
diurnal
UNK
Q25894
antelope
Concept
Q140
lions
Concept
Q42046
hyenas
Concept
Q1479109
kleptoparasite
Concept
Q386498
African folklore
Concept
Q149416
culture
LOC
Q27443
hunter-gatherer
Concept
Q208520
predynastic Egyptian
TIME
Q172365
San people
Concept
Q173651
African wild dog
Concept
Q173651
African wild dog
Concept
Q173651
African wild dog
Concept
Q173651
African wild dog
Concept
1990-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1990
DATE
+39^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
39
NUMBER
parent taxon
IUCN conservation status
taxon rank
taxon rank