African Hunting Dog

African hunting dog

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Genus:	Lycaon

Binomial name

Lycaon pictus

The African Hunting Dog (Lycaon pictus) is a mammal of the Canidae family, thus related to the domestic dog. They are, as their name indicates, found only in Africa, especially in scrub savanna and other lightly wooded areas. The Latin name of the species means painted wolf and it is characteristic of the species that no two individuals have the same pattern of coat.

African Hunting Dogs hunt in packs. Their main prey are impala and similar medium sized ungulates. Their need for a large territory has led to the situation where today they are threatened with extinction.

Reference

Walker's Mammals of the World
as of 2002-07-07

External links:

http://www.scz.org/animals/d/dog.html

Encyclopedia Home Page

African Hunting Dog

Reference