cool-critters: African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) The African wild dog is a canid native to sub-Sahara
cool-critters: African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) The African wild dog is a canid native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest of its family in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus Lycaon, which is distinguished from Canis by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet, and a lack of dewclaws. It was classified as endangered by the IUCN in 2016, as it had disappeared from much of its original range. The 2016 population was estimated at roughly 39 subpopulations containing 6,600 adults, only 1,400 of which were reproductive. The decline of these populations is ongoing, due to habitat fragmentation, human persecution and disease outbreaks. photo credits: Sharp Photography, Bart Swanson -- source link