For those who didn't know, to save you the search I just performed: the African Wild Dog is not literally a wild dog. It's not even a Canid, it's a separate genus (Lycaon) from dogs, wolves & coyotes.
i think the wolves/dogs/coyotes and african wild dogs all have 78 chromosomes, but it's unclear if the african painted dogs have been diverged so long as to have incompatible chromosome gene layouts despite matching chromosome counts.
i tried looking for any examples of hybrids but did not find any. they'd be pretty ridiculously cute though for sure.
supposedly hybrids of african painted dogs and domestic dogs happens, albeit rarely, in South Africa
This information may have been supplanted but newer studies, but one study determined that African Wild Dogs were the most successful pack hunters on the planet with a ~92% success rate. (success being defined as 'eating' after a hunt.
Edit: Opening line from the article - Wild dogs are the most successful hunters in Africa, with a kill rate of 80 percent.
I've spent the last 2 years in East Africa and the last thing this place needs is another predator gaining back ground. This sounds like a great idea until you find yourself after sunset in an area where electric is scare - which means basically everywhere. I got hunted by street dogs in Bulgaria, multiple times, that shit will make you go to a gun shop and I'd rather get assaulted by another boda robber than facing those things.
So by that logic, for you to feel safe and not take any responsibility at all, we should just get rid of all the large predators, then correct?
Also shows a lack of understanding of the dogs themselves, as they're diurnal and practically never hunt at night. You're at much bigger risk via leopards and lions than wild dogs.
While we're sharing anecdotes, people regularly total their cars hitting deer breeding out of control in my area, as they have no natural predators left.
There's a group of these dogs at the zoo in Sioux Falls, SD. Like all dogs, I think my wife and I were predispositioned to like them. It didn't help that they all started howling when a police car drove by with its sirens on, which was cute.
Oof, I'm glad I didn't witness that (not that the zoo would feed live animals to them). It certainly would've changed my opinion on them, even though it's just their nature.
i don't have a source but there's something about their mouth or teeth that make it very hard for them to suffocate prey the way a lion or hyena would. They kill their prey through shock and blood loss from disembowelment which means basically eating it alive like you said.
It is amazing the failure rate and how people working in these endeavours keep on working and do not step in to intervene deeper. The statistics are what matters even if whole days are wasted because some leopard or lion ate the work done. These are not cute animal lovers, they are the real deal. Much luck!
Casualty of HN title mangling again. Original title: Africa’s Wild Dogs Are the Most Hated Carnivores on the Continent. Here’s Why Some Conservationists Are Saving Them Anyway
I dislike the title really - I'm not sure where they pull the 'most hated' aspect from. A lot of what I've seen is that leopards generally fall into that category, mainly because they'll also happily kill people, dogs and livestock.
We're in the era of 4k and 8k monitors. That character limit only occupies a tiny fraction of any modern screen.
So odd a site dedicated to future technology companies isn't even caught up with modern display techniques, let alone ones that existed some 2 decades ago.
I find the ethics of these kind of predator reintroduction programs to be extremely dubious. I feel this story could be reframed easily as ‘American activists unleash genetically modified hunters upon the world’s poorest.’ Does anyone know of any material benefit that is expected to be gained by those who live with the dogs?
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