African Wild Dog

2.1 In with department and by with group is the African wild dog?
The African dog is by the department ‘animal kingdom’ and it is an ‘animal with bones (vertebrates)’ he is one of the mammals.

2.2 Why is he in that department and by that group?
It he is bilaterally symmetric. And has an internal skeleton.

2.3 What are other name’s of animals out that group?
Some names are; Bouvier, teckel and other dogs, wolves.

2.4 Were does he live?
Until one hundred years ago he lived in the whole of Africa south of the Sahara. Fifty years ago there were still many in all of Africa, except in the desert and the rain forest. Nowadays they still live, but in only a couple of countries and in small, spreaded groups. They live nowadays most in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa. How much African wild dogs there are left, no-one knows exactly. They live, as it happens, on extended savannahs where they are difficult to count. People think that in sum still only 3000 African wild dogs in Africa are alive.

2.5 What does he eat?
De African Wild dog is normally hunting: middle big antilopes as impala, Thomsongazelle, blue gnoe and the big koedoe. He can also catch bigger animals than himself (e.g. Zebra’s). African wild dogs are hunting most of the time in a group. The speciality is not the speed, but endurance. He can on a distance of 5 km at the same speed tolerate a speed of 48 km/h; in a short sprint he can have a speed of 60 km/h. The group pursues a prey and bites to the back and the parts of the prey animal until the prey gets tired. In contrast to cats such as the lion the African wild dogs do not seize their prey at the throat but in the abdomen. They jerk the organs and because of this do not pass the prey animals asphyxiation but generally by a shock stand for living. This sounds barbarically and for this reason African wild dogs up to in the recent past were considered as corrupting. Recent research has however shown that the preys of African wild dogs die faster than those of lions and leopards.

2.6 What are the natural foes of them?
I can’t found foes of him. Only human.

2.7 Social behaviour and reproduction
They’re very social animals, and have a strict hierarchy in their group. The core of a group is a dominant peer. Only the dominant peer can reproduce and only he marks the territory with urine. Other adult animals help with the care for the babies, among other things by vomiting food on.

A group exists nowadays generally from approximately six adult males and four adult women. In former days groups were much larger: groups consisted of hundreds of wild dogs. Larger groups have territories larger than smaller groups. Also puppies in larger groups have a higher life expection. The territory of a group can be very large, 200 up to 2000 km².

The African wild dog is generally silent. On this site you can hear the voice how the African Wild Dog hear a child call:
http://www.nvdzoos.nl/educatie/frameset_educatie.html?page=afrwildehond

The African wild dog gets the most puppies of all dogs: the average is ten children per birth. Most of the children are born at the end of the rain time in an underground hole, generally an abandoned hole of an aardvark. The children are at birth blind and helpless. After a month, they come outside the hole for the first tim . After five weeks they proceed of mother milk on throw up food. After nine weeks they go along with the other adult dogs on hunting, and after a year they are full-grown.

After awakening, early in the morning or late in the afternoon, there is a type ceremony were all the dogs are present, where young wild dogs, arises assemble and other animals disturb by circling they gone. Animals which do not want be disturbed to close temporary friendships with other animals, where also they assemble in larger groups.

The African wild dog becomes generally not old: many animals die for their tenth life year

2.8 Other names.
Other names are: Afrikaanse Wilde Hond, African Hunting Dog, African Wild Dog, Apeete, Aye Dur, Cape Hunting Dog, Cynhyene, Eeyeyi, Eminze, Imbwa, Inpumpi, Kikwau, Kite Kya Negereni, Kulwe, Licaon, Liduma, Ligwami, Loup-peint, Lycaon, Mauzi, Mbawa, Mbwa Mwitu, Mbughi, Mhuge, Mulula, Muthige, Nzui, Omusege, Osuyiani, Oulay, Painted Dog, Prude, Sudhe, Suyian, Suyo, Suyondet, Takula, Tri-colored Dog, Yeyii. And of course the biology name: Lycaon pictus.

2.9 Digestion
Plant cells have got a cell wall, they are not easy to digest plant eaters (herbivore) have got a long alimentary canal required to the most of the stoves out of the plants be able to get. E.g. a Cow have 5 stomachs and have to ruminate. Meat eater (carnivore) have a shorter alimentary canal because meat is much easier to digest. As you look at the long of the intestinal canal are we (omnivore) behind the herbivore and the carnivore. The African Wild Dog is a carnivore.