African wild dogs

African wild dogs are an elusive member of Africa’s fauna. They live and hunt in packs that are widely dispersed and never stay in one place for long. They can travel up to 50 kilometers per day and occupy territories of up to 1,500 square kilometers.

African wild dogs have a unique social structure that differs from most other pack animals. Each pack includes up to 20 members and is led by a dominant breeding pair (the alpha male and alpha female) with the rest of the members working as subordinates. The most unusual part is that the females (rather than the males) migrate to new packs after reaching maturity.

Pack members communicate with each other through a variety of touches, tail wags, and vocalizations. They have strong collaborative relationships, working together to hunt for food and taking care of all pups as a pack. They rarely fight amongst themselves or try to usurp the dominant position. They also look after injured, ill, or elderly members of the pack by sharing food, even when the weak individual can’t participate in the hunt.

As a predator species, they help keep the number of prey species under control, preventing habitat destruction.

African wild dogs once roamed across much of Sub-Saharan Africa, absent only in areas of lowland rainforest and particularly dry desert. Now, though, they have disappeared from most of their former range.