Guest Post - Free Desktop Background - Wild Dog

 Free Desktop Background | Wild Dog

 This image was taken whilst I was guiding a group in the Madikwe Game Reserve. Madikwe is renowned for its wild dog sightings (hence our planned photographic safari focussing on wild dogs in 2011) and our group was very lucky to be able to sit with this pack of 13 individuals for well over half an hour as they played around in the late afternoon sun.

The scientific name Lycaon pictus is derived from the Greek for "wolf" and the Latin for "painted". Wild Dogs are the only canid species to lack dewclaws on the forelimbs. Like most members of the dog family, it is a cursorial hunter, meaning that it pursues its prey in a long, open chase and hunts in packs. Nearly 80% of all wild dog hunts end in a kill; for comparison, the success rate of lions (who use a stalk & chase technique), often viewed as ultimate predators, is only 30%.

There were once approximately 500,000 African Wild Dogs in 39 countries, and packs of 100 or more were not uncommon. Now there are only about 3,000-5,500 in fewer than 25 countries, or perhaps only 14 countries. They are primarily found in eastern and southern Africa, mostly in the two remaining large populations associated with the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania and the population centered in northern Botswana and eastern Namibia. Smaller populations of several hundred individuals are found in Zimbabwe, South Africa (Kruger National Park), and in the Ruaha/Rungwa/Kisigo complex of Tanzania. Isolated populations still persist in Zambia, Kenya, and Mozambique.

Guest Post by Andrew Beck

Andrew Beck is the owner of Moya Wa Tenga Safaris, a company offering bespoke safari itineraries, travel services and photographic safaris around Southern Africa. Andrew has spent much of his life in the bush and is passionate about sharing his experiences and knowledge with others.