WolfQuest

ethiopianwolfking wrote:ive found another interesting fact about them. aparrently they fist evolved 20 million years ago!

Uhhh...well...That's not really a fact but a belief.

African Wild Dogs are very beautiful creatures, they're pelts are just gorgeous with all those remarkable designs and pattern-like markings. I can truly see why they call African Wild Dogs the "Painted Wolf."
They also have large ears, which I find very adorable, it adds a lot of personality.

I like their social structure as well, I don't know a lot about them but I intend to start studying them.
I know that their social structure is similar to a wolf packs' is it not? There are two dominants, and the wolf pack cares for the pups, however I find it very sweet that the African Wild Dogs care for the pups no matter what, if they get food, they give it to the pups first, then the elderly and sick members of the pack. I find it very interesting and sweet how they seem to form an emotional attactchment to the members of their pack, especially the mothers, and the AWDs that take care of the pups.
They are almost like your typical human family, but in canine form.

I also find it fascinating how they "chirp" instead of barking. That, is fascinating.

I'm not sure if a lot of people are aware of this, but African Wild Dogs are in fact the only canid that have never been truly tamed despite several attempts to socialize, train and make them human-oriented. They resist any forms of training and human interaction, which I find very fascinating, since large canids such as wolves have been tamed successfully, as well as coyotes, jackals, foxes and raccoon dogs. Even other wild dogs, dingoes, Singers (New Guinea Singing Dogs) and Asiatic wild dogs (dholes) can be tamed - but not the AWD. They simply do not imprint on people - and it is completely insignificant whether you have handraised an AWD pup since birth, bottle-fed it and tried to establish a bond with it. It just doesn't work.

Blightwolf wrote:I'm not sure if a lot of people are aware of this, but African Wild Dogs are in fact the only canid that have never been truly tamed despite several attempts to socialize, train and make them human-oriented. They resist any forms of training and human interaction, which I find very fascinating, since large canids such as wolves have been tamed successfully, as well as coyotes, jackals, foxes and raccoon dogs. Even other wild dogs, dingoes, Singers (New Guinea Singing Dogs) and Asiatic wild dogs (dholes) can be tamed - but not the AWD. They simply do not imprint on people - and it is completely insignificant whether you have handraised an AWD pup since birth, bottle-fed it and tried to establish a bond with it. It just doesn't work.

Wow, that is interesting, I never knew that, I mean, I knew that many wild dogs could be "tamed," although they never lose their wild isntincts, but I never knew that the AWD couldn't be tamed/trained. But then again, no wild animal is ever really "tamed." They've always got those wild instincts that make them, well... wild.
African Wild Dogs are proving themselves to be a very fascinating species of animals, and very beautiful too. They are truly unique. 8D

very, very beautiful and smart animals.
this might have already been posted, but have any of you seen the video Planet Earth did on them? It was amazing. They had it all planned out, and it was just.... wow.

Here's a link:

[[ I know this has been dead for a while but I thought it'd be alright to revive ]]

I love African Wild Dogs, they're such beautiful creatures.

My favorite trait about them has to be their large ears, they just give off a rather comical appearance and look cute ^-^ I also find their hunting tactics and social pack structure interesting, its phenomenal how high their success rate in hunting is and how clever they can be at times.

AWDs are simply one step forward from wolves in regard to social structure. Wolves still display numerous atavistic (ancestral) behaviours inherent in lone animals (they spend a lot of time alone and may even kill prey by themselves). An AWD without a pack is either desperate or dying.

La Striata wrote:AWDs are simply one step forward from wolves in regard to social structure. Wolves still display numerous atavistic (ancestral) behaviours inherent in lone animals (they spend a lot of time alone and may even kill prey by themselves). An AWD without a pack is either desperate or dying.

Almost all canids form some type of social groups, but social interaction, structure and behavior can still be highly variable.
I don't think it's correct to say that African wild dogs are "one step forward" from wolves in regard to any behavioral pattern; it carries a bit of an elitist connotation, if you ask me, almost implying that AWDs are somehow more "nobler" animals than wolves because wolves can survive fully well without the support of a pack whereas an AWD could not lead a solitary life. Sure, it has been proven that when compared to wolves, African wild dogs tend to be more socially active and that they have a higher hunting success rate than wolf packs, for example, but consider the following:

African wild dogs live in packs which can hold a significantly larger number of pack members than a normal wolf pack (up to 43 members).

A majority of male African wild dogs do not disperse from their natal pack; only the females commonly disperse and then migrate into other non-familiar packs.

Those two factors alone are already enough to affect a social organization.

Blightwolf wrote:I don't think it's correct to say that African wild dogs are "one step forward" from wolves in regard to any behavioral pattern; it carries a bit of an elitist connotation, if you ask me, almost implying that AWDs are somehow more "nobler" animals than wolves because wolves can survive fully well without the support of a pack whereas an AWD could not lead a solitary life.

I am not in any way trying to imply that AWDs are "nobler" than wolves. Its just that AWDs simply display the highest degree of sociability among the canidae. As its hunting success rates demonstrate, this is a great boon, but it is not without disadvantages; AWDs are much more vulnerable to disease than wolves are, as sick wolves tend to disperse, while AWDs stick together no matter the situation.

Blightwolf wrote:African wild dogs live in packs which can hold a significantly larger number of pack members than a normal wolf pack (up to 43 members).

I think you may have got this the wrong way round. AWDs did not become social specialists in response to large pack sizes ; the large pack sizes were the by product of their high sociability.

Actually La Striata,Blightwolf is correct.An African Wild Dog Pack can have up to 20 Members or more.(Now moving on)But in a litter of pups,they can have up to 15 Pups in a single litter.Because in a Pack,Pups count as Pack Members.

-x-Rebecca-x- wrote:Actually La Striata,Blightwolf is correct.An African Wild Dog Pack can have up to 20 Members or more.(Now moving on)But in a litter of pups,they can have up to 15 Pups in a single litter.Because in a Pack,Pups count as Pack Members.

I was not contradicting her on the number of pack members at all.

I was stating that the development of highly social behaviour preceded large pack sizes in the species.

La Striata wrote:

-x-Rebecca-x- wrote:Actually La Striata,Blightwolf is correct.An African Wild Dog Pack can have up to 20 Members or more.(Now moving on)But in a litter of pups,they can have up to 15 Pups in a single litter.Because in a Pack,Pups count as Pack Members.

I was not contradicting her on the number of pack members at all.

I was stating that the development of highly social behaviour preceded large pack sizes in the species.

Oh i get it.Sorry.But i do agree about what you and Blight said.

I love the coat of African wild dogs. They really are unique.