Mar 032010
Today’s photo fact is about the African Wild Dog which, as its name suggests, only occurs in Africa. It is an endangered species, with under 6000 left.
Wild dogs can’t kill animals in the same way as the big cats. Their front legs aren’t as strong and their claws are blunt as they don’t retract like on a cat. Therefore they can’t grab an animal to deliver a killer bite in the neck. Instead dogs tend to chase their victim to exhaustion when they can kill them more easily. With smaller prey they will grab it and vigorously shake it side to side, usually breaking the animal’s neck or back.
For more carnivores and facts, visit our Carnivores gallery on Flickr.
Related posts:
- The Smiling Turtle This little critter has been scientifically renamed more times than...
- Top 10 Of The World’s Most Dangerous Creatures! Following our 10 Most Venomous Animals post last month, we...
- Ruler of Antarctica the Leopard Seal In this edition of our regular photo facts we take...
- Tower Of Giraffe Today’s photo fact is about the Giraffe which is endemic...
- Savanna Elephant Today’s photo fact is about the Savanna Elephant, also known...
Very nice facts about wild dogs. They do have a very interesting and communal family structure with only a few breeding pairs. Perhaps, you should write about that too…
Thanks Ateeq. I have a few more Wild Dog photos with facts coming up, and I will definitely do a Wild Dog article in the future, as they are fascinating animals.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL