The African Wild Dog

The African Wild Dog, also called the Painted Hunting Dog, is a distinctive and wonderful canid species found only in certain lightly wooded areas of Africa. But its numbers are in such decline that it is now listed as endangered by the IUCN.

This species is not only important to the local ecosystem and the planet as a whole, but is also economically valuable to local communities that can make a livelihood (e.g. through ecotourism) from the unique natural fauna surrounding them.

Reproduction in the African Wild Dog is complicated because it is intricately linked to the complex pack social structure, which features separate male and female hierarchies. This makes captive breeding a difficult task since even simple measures like introducing new members to the pack can have fatal consequences.

While great efforts, such as habitat conservation, are going into preserving the African Wild Dog the fundamental knowledge of its reproductive biology to enable captive breeding, which is likely to become an essential tool in preserving and re-populating the species, is sadly lacking.

Understanding the Reproductive Biology of the African Wild Dog

IBREAM is working to rectify this by studying these wonderful animals both in captivity and in the wild. Along with our partners at Edinburgh, Colchester and Duisburg Zoos as well as West Midland Safari Park and Port Lymphne), we are measuring reproductive hormones from identified individual dogs and comparing this with reproductive cycles, dominance, social status, behaviour and pregnancy to build up a picture of how reproduction works in this species. In the field at Hluhluwe National Park, South Africa we are doing similar work to learn more about the reproductive behavior of African Wild Dogs under field conditions.

The information and understanding we collect during this work will allow us to contribute to developing the best conservation strategy to help save the African Wild Dog.

Time is running out for the African Wild Dog  and our work requires YOUR support. Please click here to help us preserve this magnificent species.