Painted Dogs

Painted dogs have other names

• in Swahili, Mbwa mwilu

• in Zulu, Nkentshane

• in Shangaan, Hlolwa

• in Siswati, Budzatje

• in English also called African wild dog, Cape hunting dog and Painted wolf

What is their name in your local language?

Taxonomy – relationship to other species

Misidentification – people often confuse painted dogs for spotted hyena – they are very different!

Wild dogs genetically are not closely related to any other canid species. They cannot breed with domestic dogs or any other species.

The scientific name is Lycaon pictus. They are mammals, in the order Carnivora, family Canidae, and genus Lycaon. Painted dogs are in the same family as jackals, foxes, coyotes, wolves, dingoes, and domestic dogs, but in their own genus. They cannot breed with any other species, unlike wolves and domestic dogs which can interbreed.

Description

Painted dogs are slender animals with long legs. Males and females are usually the same size, sometimes males are a bit bigger. An adult is 60-75cm at the shoulder. Its body is 75-110cm long, the tail 30-40cm, and they weigh 18-36kg.

Their coats have light brown, white and black, sometimes gold or orange patches – every dog has a different coat pattern. Their tails have a white tip. They have large rounded bat-like ears. The size of their ears gives them excellent hearing and helps keep them cool. Long legs help them run fast – up to 55km an hour. They have strong jaws and 42 teeth, which are well adapted to eat lots of bones.

On average, they live up to 10 to 13 years old.

Wild dogs each have their own, unique coat pattern. No two are the same.

Researchers attach collars to Wild dogs so that they can track and monitor the dog’s movements.

Painted dog tracks

Family

A family, or pack, usually has 5-20 members.

Sometimes just two members.

Sometimes more than 30.

A pack is made up of one breeding pair, called the alpha pair, subordinate adults and other related family members and offspring.

The alpha female is the leader. She makes decisions – where to hunt, when to hunt, where to sleep, where to den. She is the one that has pups.

Wild dogs have strong family bonds, they are loving and caring. They share tasks and they share food. They raise the puppies together. They celebrate together when puppies are born.

They will stop travelling and stay with a sick or injured family member, bring it food, nurse and protect it until it can hunt again. In contrast, when a lion is injured, other lions will not care for it.

Wolves will fight to death to be the leader of a pack, painted dogs do not, they will agree which is to take over as leader.

Wild dogs mourn when a family member dies.

As the family size increases, groups of two-yearolds will sometimes leave and look for others from another family to join and make a new pack. Usually four or five two-year-olds of the same sex will leave together, to join a same sex group from another family. They may travel 400-450km looking for others, and then further for a suitable place to live together.

When the pack leader (the alpha female) dies, often the second in command, the beta female may take over.

If there are two of equal dominance and age, they often will not fight. They may separate – each take some dogs and start two new smaller packs.

Distribution/Range

In the past Wild dogs lived in most of Africa, except the driest desert and the rainforest.

Unfortunately, in colonial times they were treated as a pest, and heavily persecuted. Wild dogs are now endangered. They have disappeared from 25 of the 39 countries that they once roamed. Red areas on the map below show where Wild dogs are currently known to live. The word extant means still around, currently present.

Range size

One pack can range over an area of 2003000km2, depending on the availability of food, and presence of other predators. The average range is 300-800km2. The range of several packs can overlap, but they will rarely come close to each other.

This map is of the Karingani Game Reserve in Mozambique. It shows the range movement of two Wild dog packs, one pack illustrated in blue and one pack illustrated in red.

Painted dogs may travel 50km in one day as they hunt for food. During the denning season, when they have young puppies, the pack will generally not go further than 5-10km from the den. The denning period lasts 2-3 months.

Habitat

Painted dogs live in woodland and savanna, in lowlands and the hills and mountains.

Food – diet

Painted dogs are carnivores. They eat fresh meat, about 4kg a day.

Rarely, they eat eggs and grass. They hunt small animals like hare and warthog, small antelope, impala, duiker, gazelle, reedbuck, also kudu, and sometimes eland, buffalo or wildebeest.

Painted dogs consume a carcass very quickly, but they share, and the young and old eat first.

Painted dogs’ food of choice is wild animals. Occasionally they prey on livestock. Mostly this happens when they are raising young, and they cannot move far from the puppies in the den. During the denning season they need to stay close to the den. If wildlife is limited in the area of the den, usually due to human activity, then they may take domesticated animals.

If wild dogs make their den in your area be sure to keep livestock secure. Occasionally they prey on livestock – mostly this happens when they are raising young and can not move far from the puppies. The denning period lasts 2-3 months.

Hunting

Painted dogs use their sight to hunt and typically hunt at dawn and dusk when it is light but not too hot, also at night if the moon is full. They can travel up to 50km in a day, searching for food.

Painted dogs are very good hunters. Teamwork is a key to their success: they hunt as a team and work together. They can also run fast, for long distances. They are better hunters than lions, cheetah or leopards.

When Wild dogs have caught their prey they eat quickly, because if lions and hyena are given a chance, they will steal the kill.

Painted dogs are not wasteful hunters, they eat everything, all the intestines and stomach. They leave carcasses clean, with just the bones and skin remaining, often scattered. This habit is a way of knowing whether Painted dogs or other predators were responsible for a kill. Other predators leave more debris around a kill.

Painted dogs have an important role in the ecosystem. As predators, they pick out the weaker and sick animals, leaving healthy ones to breed and keep wildlife populations strong.

Reproduction

Typically, only the alpha female will mate and have pups. But the others all help care for the mum and puppies.

Gestation is 10 weeks. The alpha female makes a den in a hole in the ground, often an old aardvark or warthog hole, and has 8-12, sometimes up to 18 puppies. The mother stays in the den for two weeks after delivering, feeding the pups with her milk.

The pack will hunt and bring her meat to eat. After two weeks, the pups start to eat some meat brought to them by other members of the pack.

After four weeks they come up from the den, and another pack member will babysit to give the mum a break.

The puppies wean at about five weeks. The whole pack helps raise the puppies, taking turns to babysit and play with young ones.

After 2-3 months the pups follow the pack when it hunts. At one year old they will start hunting. They are mature at 18 months old.

Normally only the Alpha female has pups – but the whole pack, male and female, help to raise them....

Routine

Painted dogs spend most of the day sleeping together as a pack. They usually hunt at dawn and dusk when the temperatures are cooler. Before setting off to hunt they dance and nuzzle each other excitedly. This is called “rallying.”

Communication

Painted dogs do not howl like wolves or domestic dogs. They make a deep “hooo” sound, which sounds similar to a bird call. They also make excited twittering noises when greeting each other. They also use their ears, tail and body posture to communicate with each other.

Predators

Lions, spotted hyenas and crocodiles will hunt and kill Painted dogs, but their biggest threats come from humans.

Other dangers faced by Wild dogs

Painted dogs can catch rabies and distemper from domestic dogs. We vaccinate domestic dogs against these diseases to keep all of us safe.

Painted dogs get caught in snares. They suffer terrible wounds, pain and suffering from snares. The Wild dog on the right had a snare around its neck, causing it bad injuries. Wildlife veterinarians had to remove the snare and treat the wounds.

Wild dogs are an endangered species. It is against the law to kill or injure them.

Living together

Human beings are the biggest threat that wild dogs face.

But as soon as people come to know and understand wild dogs they always live peacefully alongside them, together in the same area. Wild dogs do not attack or harm people. Their choice will always be to move away, not to be aggressive. We must do the same.

Occasionally Wild dogs will prey on domestic animals. Most often this occurs in the denning period. If they make their den near where you have livestock it is important to put your animals in enclosures from evening to morning.

Painted dogs are very loving to each other, but they do not domesticate. If a pup is raised by humans, it will become wild when it matures.

Painted dogs don’t fear people, they will come close to homesteads, and walk along roads, but they are not dangerous. Many dogs are killed by vehicles when they cross or use roads and highways, sometimes on purpose by people who do not understand them.

Tourism

People love to watch Painted dogs. Tourists pay to watch them.

This little girl is practicing her Painted dog ‘Hoo’ call while on a game drive learning about the dogs near her home.

At the Waterberg in South Africa, the Waterberg Wild Dog Initiative take tourists to view the dogs when they are denning. The income from tourists pays to protect local people’s livestock and to compensate for any livestock losses.

References

Predators and farmers. 2012. 3rd ed. edited by Tim Snow, Harriet Davies-Mostert, Kelly Marnewick and Brendan Whittington-Jones. Endangered Wildlife Trust. Johannesburg. www.ewt.org.za

Tracking and identifying. African wild dogs. Waterberg Wild Dog Initiative. Published 2012. Downloaded 2022 www.waterbergwilddogs.org.za/resources

African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) –FaunaFocus

Painted wolf Foundation. Painted wolves, fascinating facts. www.paintedwolf.org/painted-wolves

Wild Dog Advisory Group. www.wilddogadvisorygroup.org

Painted Dog Conservation, Zimbabwe. www.painteddog.org/about-painted-dogs

Image credits

Jo Taylor, Karingani Game Reserve, Mozambique. www.Karingani.com

Craig Morrison, Karingani Game Reserve, Mozambique. www.Karingani.com

Reilly Mooney, Waterberg Wild Dog Initiative, South Africa. www.waterbergwilddogs.org.za

Watercolour paintings by Makayla Stoliker, Sun Hat Gallery. www.sunhatgallery.com

Where to find more information and resources

There is much more, including more detailed information, and other resources on Painted dogs available from:

Wild Dog Advisory Group www.wilddogadvisorygroup.org

Painted Dog Conservation www.painteddog.org

Painted Wolf Foundation www.paintedwolf.org

Waterberg Wild Dog Initiative www.waterbergwilddogs.org.za

Endangered Wildlife Trust www.ewt.org.za