This photo gives a good look at the body of an African wild dog and you can see why they are nicknamed African painted dogs. They are Africa’s largest canid and are highly social, living and hunting in packs. They are also highly endangered with a current estimated population to be only 6,600 adults and declining due to continued habit loss, fragmentation, human persecution and disease outbreaks. I came across this African wild dog and the rest of its pack late in the afternoon in northern Botswana. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 155mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/160th of a second
Definitely qualifies as a “painted puppy”. It is rather shocking to learn there are only about 6,600 adult African dogs. Really, I would have guessed that there are many more than that sum. Tough times for so many of the world’s creatures. Nice capture, Sean!
Great ‘Painting’ of African Wild Dog.
Natural History footage showed a few programs on their social skills & group dynamics. They took down some surprisingly large prey. Their hunt organisation was more sophisticated than a lion pride. One bunt showed them hunting down a Wildebeest(or similar size) where they stationed themselves at different stages of app 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 1 1/2 mile, 2….etc mile line of staging posts before they began the chase. Then a group of 5 or 6 began the chase & herded the Wildebeest along the terrain/channel where their Outliers lay. They then took up the chase & the net effect was that the prey became exhausted from the intensity of fresh dogs joining the fray at such a regular pace that it eventually was able to only trot slowly & the pack brought it down without any great fuss.
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This photo gives a good look at the body of an African wild dog and you can see why they are nicknamed African painted dogs. They are Africa’s largest canid and are highly social, living and hunting in packs. They are also highly endangered with a current estimated population to be only 6,600 adults and declining due to continued habit loss, fragmentation, human persecution and disease outbreaks. I came across this African wild dog and the rest of its pack late in the afternoon in northern Botswana.
Definitely qualifies as a “painted puppy”. It is rather shocking to learn there are only about 6,600 adult African dogs. Really, I would have guessed that there are many more than that sum. Tough times for so many of the world’s creatures. Nice capture, Sean!
And they’re spread out throughout sub-Sahara Africa in many isolated areas (which is one of the problems — the fragmentation of their range).
have the native people, hunted then for for meat. ?
Hey Michael, not so much people as lions. In areas where there are a lot of healthy lions, dog numbers are decreasing.
What a beautiful animal. Makes me sad to know they’re endangered!
Yeah, it was quite a treat to see this large pack of them, resting for the most part, at the end of the day.
—– Toe walk in the dust
—– Alert to opportunities
—– And sudden peril .
Great ‘Painting’ of African Wild Dog.
Natural History footage showed a few programs on their social skills & group dynamics. They took down some surprisingly large prey. Their hunt organisation was more sophisticated than a lion pride. One bunt showed them hunting down a Wildebeest(or similar size) where they stationed themselves at different stages of app 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 1 1/2 mile, 2….etc mile line of staging posts before they began the chase. Then a group of 5 or 6 began the chase & herded the Wildebeest along the terrain/channel where their Outliers lay. They then took up the chase & the net effect was that the prey became exhausted from the intensity of fresh dogs joining the fray at such a regular pace that it eventually was able to only trot slowly & the pack brought it down without any great fuss.