Photographed in the Timbavati Game Reserve, South Africa, from a safari vehicle, no cover
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These dogs are fearsome when the pack is hunting, and pack discipline is important. Puppies apparently learn at an early age that transgressions are dealt with very quickly by adult dogs in the area. Although I didn't witness what this puppy did, the adult very forcefully grabbed its head and laid it over on its side. No actually damage was done, other than to the puppy's dignity and the adult dog moved on while the puppy remained on the the ground for a moment.
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From Wikipedia: The Cape wild dog (Lycaon pictus pictus), also known as the South African wild dog, Cape hunting dog, or the painted wolf, is the nominate subspecies of African wild dog native to Southern Africa.
Characteristics:
The Cape wild dog is the largest subspecies, weighing 20–25 kg (44–55 lb). It is much more colourful than the East African subspecies,[2] though even within this single subspecies there are geographic variations in coat colour: specimens inhabiting the Cape are characterised by the large amount of orange-yellow fur overlapping the black, the partially yellow backs of the ears, the mostly yellow underparts and a number of whitish hairs on the throat mane. Those in Mozambique are distinguished by the almost equal development of yellow and black on both the upper and underparts of the body, as well as having less white fur than the Cape form.
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 scatter from the natal pack once sexually mature and 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, it regurgitates food for its young, but this action is also extended to adults, to the point of being the bedrock of African wild dog social life. It has few natural predators, though lions are a major source of mortality and spotted hyenas are frequent kleptoparasites.
Diet:
A species-wide study showed that by preference where available five species were the most regularly selected prey, namely the greater kudu, Thomson's gazelle, impala, bushbuck and blue wildebeest. More specifically, in East Africa, its most common prey is Thomson's gazelle, while in Central and Southern Africa, it targets impala, reedbuck, kob, lechwe and springbok. Its diet is not restricted to these animals, though, as it also hunts warthog, oribi, duiker, waterbuck, Grant's gazelle, ostrich, African buffalo (by likelihood, almost exclusively calves) and smaller prey such as dik-dik, hares, spring hares, insects and cane rats. Staple prey sizes are usually between 15 and 200 kg (33 and 441 lb), though some local studies put upper prey sizes as variously 90 to 135 kg (198 to 298 lb). In the case of larger species such as kudu and wildebeest, calves are largely but not exclusively targeted. However, certain packs in the Serengeti specialized in hunting adult plains zebras weighing up to 240 kg (530 lb) quite frequently.[61] Another study claimed that some prey taken by wild dogs could weigh up to 289 kg (637 lb). One pack was recorded to occasionally prey on bat-eared foxes, rolling on the carcasses before eating them. African wild dogs rarely scavenge, but have on occasion been observed to appropriate carcasses from spotted hyenas, leopards, cheetahs and lions, as well as animals caught in snares. In East Africa, African wild dogs in packs of 17 to 43 eat 1.7 kg (3.7 lb) of meat on average each day.
Hunting and feeding behaviours:
The African wild dog is a specialised pack hunter of common medium-sized antelopes. It and the cheetah are the only primarily diurnal African large predators. L. pictus hunts by approaching prey silently, then chasing it in a pursuit clocking at up to 66 km/h (41 mph) for 10 to 60 minutes. The average chase typically only goes as far as 2 km, during which time the prey animal, if large, is repeatedly bitten on the legs, belly, and rump until it stops running, while smaller prey is simply pulled down and torn apart. The African wild dogs have a higher success rate when it comes to killing prey even though they are smaller than lions and leopards.[48]L. pictus hunting strategies differ according to prey, with wildebeest being rushed at to panic the herd and isolate a vulnerable individual, whereas territorial antelope species, which defend themselves by running in wide circles, are captured by cutting off their escape routes. Medium-sized prey is often killed in 2–5 minutes, whereas larger prey such as wildebeest may take half an hour to pull down. Male wild dogs usually perform the task of grabbing dangerous prey, such as warthogs, by the nose. Small prey such as rodents, hares and birds are hunted singly, with dangerous prey such as cane rats and porcupines being killed with a quick and well-placed bite to avoid injury. Small prey is eaten entirely, while large animals are stripped of their meat and organs, with the skin, head, and skeleton left intact. The African wild dog is a fast eater, with a pack being able to consume a Thomson's gazelle in 15 minutes. In the wild, the species' consumption rate is of 1.2–5.9 kg per African wild dog a day, with one pack of 17–43 specimens in East Africa having been recorded to kill three animals per day on average. Unlike most social predators, it will regurgitate food for adult as well as young family members. Pups old enough to eat solid food are given first priority at kills, eating even before the dominant pair; subordinate adult dogs help feed and protect the pups. The African wild dog is a highly successful hunter. Hunting success varies with prey type, vegetation cover and pack size, but African wild dogs tend to be very successful, often with greater than 60% of their chases ending in a kill, sometimes up to 90%. This is much higher than lion (27–30%) and hyena (25–30%) success rates tend to be, but African wild dogs commonly lose their successful kills to these two large predators.
Enemies and competitors:
Lions dominate African wild dogs and are a major source of mortality for both adults and pups. Population densities of African wild dogs are low in areas where lions are more abundant. One pack reintroduced into Etosha National Park was destroyed by lions. A population crash in lions in the Ngorongoro Crater during the 1960s resulted in an increase in African wild dog sightings, only for their numbers to decline once the lions recovered. As with other large predators killed by lion prides, the dogs are usually killed and left uneaten by the lions, indicating the competitive rather than predatory nature of the larger species' dominance. However, a few cases have been reported of old and wounded lions falling prey to African wild dogs. On occasion, packs of wild dogs have been observed defending pack members attacked by single lions, sometimes successfully. One pack in the Okavango in March 2016 was photographed by safari guides waging "an incredible fight" against a lioness that attacked a subadult dog at an impala kill, which forced the lioness to retreat, although the subadult dog died. Naturalists John McNutt and Lesley Bogg McNutt, founders of the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, observed a pack of four wild dogs furiously defend an old adult male dog from a male lion that attacked it at a kill; the dog survived and rejoined the pack.
Spotted hyenas are important kleptoparasites and follow packs of African wild dogs to appropriate their kills. They typically inspect areas where African wild dogs have rested and eat any food remains they find. When approaching African wild dogs at a kill, solitary hyenas approach cautiously and attempt to take off with a piece of meat unnoticed, though they may be mobbed in the attempt. When operating in groups, spotted hyenas are more successful in pirating African wild dog kills, though the latter's greater tendency to assist each other puts them at an advantage against spotted hyenas, which rarely work in unison. Cases of African wild dogs scavenging from spotted hyenas are rare. Although African wild dog packs can easily repel solitary hyenas, on the whole, the relationship between the two species is a one-sided benefit for the hyenas, with African wild dog densities being negatively correlated with high hyena populations.
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