![]() ![]() We found that the density of wild dogs in Selous was very good, at least partly because wild dogs were better able to avoid problems with lions and spotted hyenas in the miombo woodland of Selous than in plains of the Serengeti. My colleagues and I spent six years in the 1990s observing wild dogs in the Selous Game Reserve, confirming the Tanzania Wildlife Department’s belief that this large ecosystem was a major stronghold for the species. Biologists started to rethink the prevailing view that wild dogs were specialized to live and hunt in open grasslands. ![]() And lions are simply too dangerous to fight, so the big cats could always take over a kill from the dogs, and kill them surprisingly often.Īt that time, very little was known about wild dogs in places other than Serengeti and South Africa’s Kruger National Park, a more wooded ecosystem where researchers had found a flourishing population that often hunted impala. Given the large population of hyenas in Serengeti, they took nine out of 10 kills that the dogs made. But hyenas are also social animals, and researchers found that the dogs generally lost their kills to hyenas when their numbers were equal. A pack of wild dogs making a coordinated attack on one or two hyenas can easily drive them off. Several hyenas often trailed the dogs even as they set out to hunt, and hyenas quickly aggregated when the dogs killed a gazelle or wildebeest – often alerted by the unmistakable sound of vultures plummeting through the air in their own race to the fresh carcass.Īlthough they are half the size, wild dogs do not easily give up a kill to hyenas. Over the next year, I occasionally followed the dogs to watch them hunt on the shortgrass plains, where they were constantly shadowed by spotted hyenas. Understanding how is essential for their conservation. ![]() Research that my colleagues with the Zambian Carnivore Programme and I have conducted in Zambia and Tanzania suggests why smaller, subordinate species like wild dogs are better able to move through human-modified landscapes. There may be a silver lining to being the bottom dog in the competitive hierarchy. Weighing in at about 40-62 pounds (18-28 kilograms), wild dogs have been shaped by the necessity to compete with larger species like the lion and spotted hyena. Cooperation with pack mates allows them to hunt prey much larger than themselves. Wild dogs are lanky, long-distance hunters that always live in groups, usually of eight to 10 adults. For several million years, African wild dogs have evolved within a set of large carnivores that all prey on the same large herbivore species, like wildebeest and warthogs. Within these limited areas, they must compete for the same food sources.Ĭompetition is, of course, nothing new. Increasingly, lions, hyenas and African wild dogs are restricted to protected areas like national parks. Because of this, spotted hyenas frequently follow packs of wild dogs and steal their kills.Large carnivores in Africa are important from ecological, economic and cultural perspectives, but human activities put them at risk. Spotted hyenas are generally bigger and more powerful than African wild dogs, so even when they’re alone, they can hold their own against a pack of the smaller wild dogs. Meanwhile, wild dogs are naturally classified under the suborder Caniformia. Despite hyenas’ appearance, they are actually more closely related to cats than they are to dogs and are classified under the suborder Feliformia. Hyenas and wild dogs are both mammals in the order Carnivora. It was still going on when we finally left.” We watched this funny boxing match for about 30 minutes, with the hyenas clearly outnumbered and outmaneuvered. We weren’t sure why the territorial battle was taking place but neither side would back down and leave. The dogs seemed pleased to tease the hyenas whilst also holding their ground. ![]() The dogs were playfully scampering with each other across an open field while the hyenas skulked around them. She explained: “We could hear eerie cries of hyenas before we came upon this peculiar encounter between a pack of about 12 wild dogs and six hyenas. Merrell Foote (56), a corporate communications and public relations professional living in Saudi Arabia, captured this unique footage during her Kirkmans Kamp game drive in Sabi Sands Game Reserve. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |