This week’s endangered species is the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). Has your dog recently destroyed your couch, threatened to eat your neighbor’s cat, or torn a hole through a wall? Are you wondering whether your dog is part African wild dog? Before sending off a cheek swab for expensive DNA analysis, check out these 5 fun facts about African wild dogs to see if there’s a match:
- How many toes does your dog have? African wild dogs only have four toes on each foot (most dogs have 5 toes on their front feet)
- Is your dog longing for company, and lot of it? Like wolves, African wild dogs live and hunt in packs of 6 to 20 dogs.
- Is your dog monogamous or more of a free-love fan? In the pack, only the dominant male and female breed.
- Got puppies? Female wild dogs can have litters of up to 20 pups!
- Does your dog seem restless? Packs of wild dogs can roam over a range of up to 900 square miles!
Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m linking you to the Arkive blog for lots of great details about this fascinating animal (seems great minds were thinking alike this week).
If you’re interested in helping conserve and protect the wild dog, be sure to visit the African Wild Dog Conservancy website.