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Hyenic Dogs: Description, Lifestyle, Population
Dogs in nature exist both domestic and wild. The predators of this genus are hyena-shaped dogs. They are also called in another way: hyena, African wild. The name came from the Greek word "Lycaon", which in translation sounds like "wolf" and from Latin - "pictus", which means "motley". If you look at the photos of these animals, you will immediately understand why they were so called.
Hyenic Dogs: Description
The hyena dog is distinguished by a slender, tightly built body. The legs of the predator are long and strong, it's not for nothing that the people say that the wolf feeds the legs, because this beast is also from this kind. The tail is furry and long. On the front paws there are only four fingers, this distinguishes the beast from the other dogs, but not from the hyena, which also has four fingers.
Big head looks like a dog. Muzzle wide, blunt with long nasal canals. Jaws powerful with sharp teeth. Thanks to a large wide oval ears, which are almost not covered with wool, African dogs are very similar to hyenas.
The fur of the hyena-shaped dog is short, coarse and so rare that in places the black skin can be seen. The color of the six is extraordinarily colorful and bright, black, white and yellowish-brown colors unite in it. A similar pattern in several predators can only be on the back of the head and head. In the rest it is impossible to find absolutely identical animals. Each individual is painted in its own way.
The length of the body of an adult hyena dog is 75-105 cm, but there are animals and much more 1.4 - 1.5 meters in length, centimeters forty are on the tail. The height at the withers is 70-80 cm. The male is larger than the female, otherwise they resemble almost everything. Weight depends on how the animal feeds, whether it is full or constantly walks with an empty stomach in search of food. A hyena dog can eat a piece of meat weighing 9-10 kg in one sitting.
Areal
Hyenic dogs live in Africa, from the Sahara and from the sea level to the upper forest borders in the mountains. In the past, the range of the African dog spread from Algeria and Sudan to the southern border of the continent. Today it has become mosaic, covering national parks and places that have not yet touched the hand of man.
Habitat of the hyena dog:
• The Transvaal.
• Namibia.
• Swaziland.
• Botswana.
• Zimbabwe.
• Tanzania.
• Mozambique.
Lifestyle
Hyenic dogs are active during the day. They get their food, they hunt in the morning and in the evening. They will see their prey more than smell, so they need a good view during the daytime.
The African dog runs fine, even at long distances it speeds up to 55 km / h. If there is one short jerk, then the speed reaches 65 km / h.
Almost every hunting of these predators ends successfully due to the fact that they do this together with the whole pack, because they need to feed every day adult members of the pack and a dozen kids. In search of food, dogs can pass up to 15-20 kilometers.
In a natural environment under normal conditions of life, colorful animals can live 9-10 years.
Reproduction
In the pack, a pair of alpha male and alpha female dominate. They direct and establish laws, they also produce offspring. No female from the below does not have the right to become a mother. If this happens, the puppies die from hunger or they are torn by the alpha female.
The main pair is formed once and for life. When the female is ready for the nuptial period, the male at this time does not depart from it for a second, no one else has the right to even approach it.
Pregnancy lasts an average of 70-75 days. The females in the burrow puppies, bringing in at a time from light to 2 to 20 babies. In captivity, cubs are always smaller, on average, the brood consists of 10-12 puppies. They are born completely helpless, blind and deaf. In the third week they open their eyes, but come out of the lair when they start eating solid food. The mother remains with the children for the first month. At this time, the family's father is eating them. Milk kids stop drinking at five months of age.
The young people are protected by the whole flock. In 8-9 weeks the puppies leave the burrow and begin to get acquainted with the surrounding world. At the same time, a beautiful yellow color will be added to their black and white color.
Hyenic dog: population size
It would seem, more recently these motley predators lived in huge flocks, numbering one hundred or more goals. Today, a hyena-shaped dog, whose population has fallen sharply, gathers no more than 20-30 animals in groups. The reason for this was infectious diseases, human settlement of habitual animal habitats and uncontrolled hunting. Now people have come to their senses, and this unusually painted establishment is listed in the Red Book with a note of a species that is on the verge of extinction. Now according to the estimates of researchers in nature there are 500-1000 schools with a total number of dogs of 3500-5500.
Hyenic dog and man
Uncontrolled shooting of African wild dogs can not be explained by the value of the beast as a hunting trophy, or by the great industrial value of these animals. Just in time, the local population considered them to be very harmful animals that killed livestock and were carriers of different infections. Nowadays the opinion about these dogs has changed for the better. They were treated with care, they are under protection, as one of the smallest large African predators.
Watching how the motley beast hunts, it seems that he is bloodthirsty and cruel. This is quite true, but watching their behavior in the pack, you can see that they can be caring and affectionate. If you take in the house of a small puppy, then it will grow from a homemade hyena dog.
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