Why are African wild dogs considered 'the best hunters'?

The African wild dog has a scientific name of Lycaon pictus, the English name is 'Painted wolves' (roughly translated as 'painted wolves'), but it is more commonly known by the name of wild dogs.

African wild dogs are known to be masters of the art of coordinating hunting in the prairies with a successful hunting rate of up to 3/4 in each hunting, each individual has a good sense of discipline and good solidarity. They are also one of the most powerful bites of mammals in predators.

African wild dogs are known to be masters of the art of hunting combined.

There used to be around 500,000 African wild dogs in 39 countries and a herd of 100 or more is not uncommon, but now there are only about 3,000-5,500 in less than 25 countries, or perhaps only 14 countries. .

The number of this species as of 2016 is estimated to be about 39 sub-populations containing 6,600 adults, only 1,400 of which are mature individuals reproducing. The decline of these populations is happening, due to habitat fragmentation, human repression and disease outbreaks.

There is a unique organization and society

They possess an extremely fashionable coat with black, brown, yellow and white spots; In particular, each dog has a different spot, no one resembles any one and is a pair of large, round ears. The habitat of African wild dogs is concentrated in eastern and southern Africa.

Wild dogs in Africa have a herd lifestyle with a highly organized and disciplined social organization . This is one of the highlights that they can survive in harsh environments with many bigger and more dangerous predators.

They are the one species that has a leader, all other members have to submit. When the hunt is prey, the meat is divided from top to bottom, the other dogs wait patiently, standing guard until their turn to eat.

They almost never fight for food due to this rating system. When a dog is sick, injured or elderly, or even loses its ability to hunt, the rest of the pack will take care of it and raise it. When the leader is injured, he is not forced to abdicate, if he has the intelligence, he will still be respected and cared for by the whole herd.

A more special feature of this animal is the characteristic of yielding to the lower surface. When hunting prey, the adults will let the young gnawing at the food first. Not only the parents, but also the brothers and sisters involved in the care and protection of the children in the herd.

This species also has a very abnormal habit, that is to swallow the food and then vomiting again . They also occasionally rolled through the vomit first, then stood up to pile all the messy ground on the ground. The work is often used to bring food back to the offspring, but sometimes it extends to older children, to the point of being an African wild dog social life.

Extreme hunting skill, accurate

While the lion's hunting success rate is only about 27-30%, this rate in African wild dogs is up to 80%, a number that is said to be terribly high, outperforming lions and newspaper. They often hunt in large herds with about 20, can together defeat 1 prey they are many times larger than zebras, wildebeests.

Wild dogs can continuously chase prey 8km and the fastest speed can be up to 66km / h.

Their jaws can produce powerful bites of up to 240,000 kg / m ² , the lower jaws of wild dogs are much bigger than domestic dogs and their molars function to remove meat from bones. They even steal prey from species that stand on top of food chains like lions, hyenas or crocodiles. 

Observing wild African hunting dogs, you will know why they are hailed as Africa's 'best hunters' .

Most camouflaged predators silently approach and take down their prey, but African wild dogs rarely use this tactic, they are born to conquer prey with chases.

With good eyesight and incredible endurance, stray dogs can chase their prey continuously for 8 km and the fastest speed can be up to 66 km / h. Usually they will chase their prey until they are exhausted and collapsed, unable to resist and butchering their prey.

In order to hunt a large prey, the members of the herd need to coordinate smoothly.

Before chasing prey, they radiate siege and choose a target. One approached the prey, the other one moved to block the flank and the others lined up alternately. Their purpose is to separate the target from the herd, surround the flank and close the prey to escape. It is a very effective and scientific way of hunting with species living in groups.

And if the prey is small, they just grind to the ground and rip through the healthy jaws into the most natural world. In addition, African wild dogs are very intelligent when they know how to communicate with each other when hunting, the dogs constantly let other members know both their position and their prey.

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