Social and reproductive behaviour The African wild dog have strong social bonds, stronger than those of sympatric lions and spotted hyenas; thus, solitary living and hunting are extremely rare in the species. It lives in permanent packs consisting of two to 27 adults and yearling pups. The typical pack size in the Kruger National Park and the
Maasai Mara is four or five adults, while packs in
Moremi and
Selous Game Reserves contain eight or nine. However, larger packs have been observed and temporary aggregations of hundreds of individuals may have gathered in response to the seasonal migration of vast
springbok herds in Southern Africa. Males and females have separate dominance hierarchies, with the latter usually being led by the oldest female. Males may be led by the oldest male, but these can be supplanted by younger specimens; thus, some packs may contain elderly male former pack leaders. The dominant pair typically monopolises breeding. African wild dog populations in
East Africa appear to have no fixed
breeding season, whereas those in Southern Africa usually breed during the April–July period. The
copulatory tie characteristic of mating in most canids has been reported to be absent or very brief (less than one minute) in African wild dog, possibly an adaptation to the prevalence of larger predators in its environment. The
gestation period lasts 69–73 days, with the interval between each pregnancy being 12–14 months typically. The African wild dog produces more pups than any other canid, with litters containing around six to 16 pups, with an average of 10, thus indicating that a single female can produce enough young to form a new pack every year. Because the amount of food necessary to feed more than two litters would be impossible to acquire by the average pack, breeding is strictly limited to the dominant female, which may kill the pups of subordinates. After giving birth, the mother stays close to the pups in the
den, while the rest of the pack hunts. She typically drives away pack members approaching the pups until the latter are old enough to eat solid food at three to four weeks of age. The pups leave the den around the age of three weeks and are suckled outside. The pups are weaned at the age of five weeks, when they are fed regurgitated meat by the other pack members. By seven weeks, the pups begin to take on an adult appearance, with noticeable lengthening in the legs, muzzle, and ears. Once the pups reach the age of eight to 10 weeks, the pack abandons the den and the young follow the adults during hunts. The youngest pack members are permitted to eat first on kills, a privilege which ends once they become yearlings. When separated from the pack, an African wild dog becomes depressed and can die as a result of
broken heart syndrome.
Male/female ratio Packs of African wild dogs have a high ratio of males to females. This is a consequence of the males mostly staying with the pack whilst female offspring disperse and is supported by a changing sex-ratio in consecutive litters. Those born to maiden females contain a higher proportion of males, second litters are half and half and subsequent litters biased towards females with this trend increasing as females get older. As a result, the earlier litters provide stable hunters whilst the higher ratio of dispersals amongst the females stops a pack from getting too big.
Sneeze communication and 'voting' Populations in the
Okavango Delta have been observed 'rallying' before setting out to hunt. Not every rally results in a departure, but departure becomes more likely when more individual dogs 'sneeze'. These
sneezes are characterized by a short, sharp exhale through the nostrils. When members of dominant mating pairs sneeze first, the group is much more likely to depart. If a dominant dog initiates, around three sneezes guarantee departure. When less dominant dogs sneeze first, if enough others also sneeze (about 10), then the group will go hunting. Researchers assert that wild dogs in Botswana "use a specific vocalization (the sneeze) along with a variable quorum response mechanism in the decision-making process [to go hunting at a particular moment]". Inbreeding is rare within natal packs. Inbreeding may have been selected against evolutionarily because it leads to the expression of recessive deleterious alleles. Computer simulations indicate that all populations continuing to avoid incestuous mating will become extinct within 100 years due to the unavailability of unrelated mates. It is a primarily
diurnal predator and hunts by approaching prey silently, then chasing it in a pursuit clocking at up to for 10–60 minutes. A species-wide study showed that by preference, where available, five prey species were the most regularly selected, namely the
greater kudu,
Thomson's gazelle,
impala,
Cape bushbuck and
blue wildebeest. More specifically, in East Africa, its most common prey is the Thomson's gazelle, while in Central and Southern Africa, it targets
impala,
reedbuck,
kob,
lechwe and
springbok, However, certain packs in the
Serengeti specialized in hunting adult
plains zebras weighing up to quite frequently. Another study claimed that some prey taken by wild dogs could weigh up to . This includes
African buffalo juveniles during the dry season when herds are small and calves less protected. One pack was recorded to occasionally prey on
bat-eared foxes, rolling on the carcasses before eating them. African wild dogs rarely scavenge, but have on occasion been observed to appropriate carcasses from spotted hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, lions, and animals caught in
snares. An analysis of 1,119 chases by a pack of six Okavango wild dogs showed that most were short distance uncoordinated chases, and the
individual kill rate was only 15.5 percent. Because kills are shared, each dog enjoyed an efficient
benefit–cost ratio. A compilation of success rates for different prey species, of different ages and under various success parameters, found that the average hunting success rate for African wild dogs is 31.2%, which seems to debunk the idea of a success rate of over 80% that would make the species "the most efficient hunters". Small prey such as
rodents,
hares and birds are hunted singly, with dangerous prey such as
cane rats and
Old World porcupines being killed with a quick and well-placed bite to avoid injury. Small prey is eaten entirely, while large animals are stripped of their meat and organs, leaving the skin, head, and skeleton intact. The African wild dog is a fast eater, with a pack being able to consume a
Thomson's gazelle in 15 minutes. In the wild, the species' consumption is per African wild dog a day, with one pack of 17–43 individuals in East Africa having been recorded to kill three animals per day on average.
Enemies and competitors Lions dominate African wild dogs and are a major source of mortality for both adults and pups. Population densities are usually low in areas where lions are more abundant. One pack reintroduced into
Etosha National Park was wiped out by lions. A population crash in lions in the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area during the 1960s resulted in an increase in African wild dog sightings, only for their numbers to decline once the lions recovered. However, a few cases have been reported of old and wounded lions falling prey to African wild dogs. On occasion, packs of wild dogs have been observed defending pack members attacked by single lions, sometimes successfully. One pack in the Okavango in March 2016 was photographed by safari guides waging "an incredible fight" against a lioness that attacked a subadult dog at an impala kill, which forced the lioness to retreat, although the subadult dog died. A pack of four wild dogs was observed furiously defending an old adult male dog from a male lion that attacked it at a kill; the dog survived and rejoined the pack. African wild dogs commonly lose their kills to larger predators.
Spotted hyenas are important
kleptoparasites with African wild dog densities being negatively correlated with high hyena populations. In the
Selous Game Reserve, it has been reported that African wild dogs lose 2% of their kills to spotted hyenas, less than 1% to lions, and another less than 1% to larger packs of their own species. It has been estimated that a 25% kill loss rate would require African wild dogs to spend 7.6–12 hours per day hunting to recover the wasted energy, which is unfeasible and makes them extremely vulnerable to kleptoparasitism. Beyond piracy, cases of interspecific killing of African wild dogs by spotted hyenas are documented. African wild dogs are
apex predators, only fatally losing contests to larger social carnivores. == Threats ==