African Wild Dog Essay

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Across the earth millions of creatures like the African wild dog are going extinct and one day may become a unknown fable of the past. Ever since the 1900’s african wild dogs have been in danger of becoming extinct because of mass killings and habitat loss. Originally people did not care because they were considered vicious killers but now many wildlife organizations are working to protect the african wild dog. There are many reasons from the past and from today why african wild dogs are going extinct and it is having a large effect on humans and the natural ecosystem. This problem once in africa has become a global problem that the whole world is finding solutions for.
The african wild dog is a moderate sized dog that stands at about 29-43 inches and weighs 39-79 pounds (African Wild Dog 1) and lives in eastern and southern africa more specifically areas like Kruger, Hwange, Serengeti national park, Zimbabwe and Tanzania (Creel 1). There scientific name is Lycaon pictus which means painted wolf in latin. They get this name due to there very patterned and colorful coat which helps them to blend into the savannah they live in. The african wild dog eats mammals and does not scavenge because of conflict with lions and hyenas. They live in close knit social groups of about 2-27 adults and yearlings(Creel 1) with the oldest female being the dominant female while a male in his prime leads the pack. Contrary to the popular belief of the people of early colonial times the wild dog does not attack people and will only prey on unattended livestock because they try to avoid conflict with humans due to a docile nature. They hunt in large packs and use skill and strategy rather than brute strength or speed to take down targets that range fro...

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...anizations like the world wildlife fund thanks to the support of these larger organizations this problem began to be recognized worldwide. Thanks to this solution the african wild dog population is slowly increasing over time.
Many solutions have been attempted in order to save the african wild dog from extinction. Some solutions like the vaccinating of dogs have helped very slightly while others continue to grow and help even more than before.
The african wild dog has endured many tough times in both the past and the present that has led to their decline. The decline of the african wild dog has affected the ecosystem in many ways that people don't expect as well as the issues having an effect on the african wild dog itself. Lucky, many people are trying to come up with solutions to save the african wild dog and get them off the endangered species list for good.

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