Many will know that Africa’s wild dogs are endangered, require vast areas to roam, hunt co-operatively to run down their prey and regurgitate food for pups and other pack members.
BUT did you know the following fascinating facts? Kindly brought to you by Limpopo-Lipadi:
1. Wild dogs have only 4 toes on each foot, lacking the 5th (dew claw) that other dogs have on the front foot (and sometimes also on the back foot).
2. Once wild dogs reach maturity it is the females that leave the pack to seek out other breeding opportunities, while the males stay behind to form the nucleus of the pack.
3. Pups that are old enough to eat solid food are given priority at a kill – even over the dominant pair.
4. Wild dogs have specially adapted teeth, different to other canids, to enable the rapid shredding of carcasses and therefore lessen the chance of having their meals stolen by other predators.
5. Wild dog fur differs from other canids consisting of stiff bristle-hairs and no underfur. They lose their fur as they age, with very old dogs being almost naked.
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