African Wild Dog

• Its cooperative hunts succeed as often as 80% of the time, a better rate than lions or cheetahs manage.
• It hunts medium-sized ungulates such as wildebeest, zebra and impala, taken cooperatively by the pack.
• Fewer than 7,000 are left in the wild.
• comportamientoIt has one of the highest hunting success rates of any large African carnivore thanks to how well the pack coordinates — better even than a lion's.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat & environment

Grassland, savanna and open woodland of sub-Saharan Africa, in an increasingly fragmented range

Birth weight

Born in a den, often an abandoned aardvark burrow

Size at birth

Born blind and helpless in the den

Sexual maturity

12-18 months (though it rarely breeds until later)

Gestation / incubation

69-80 days (~10 weeks)

Litter / clutch size

2 to 20 pups per litter (average 6-16)

Lifespan in captivity

Documented record of up to 15-17 years

Sources consulted: Britannica; Encyclopedia of Life; A-Z Animals; Animal Diversity Web; Animal Corner; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Wildlife ACT