African Wild dog are facing a threat of Extinction in Africa.

The African wild dog (Lycaona pictus) is facing threat in the African continent. It has been listed in the world conservation union (IUCN) as a red list of endangered species. It is regarded to be the most endangered carnivores in the African continent.[1] The African wild dog is a mammal of the cinadae family and is the only species in canid family that lack dewclaws. The African wild dog is related to the domesticated dog. [2]

The African wild dog is only found in Africa as the name is indicated. It mostly found in the savanna and woodland biomes. It has different coat patterns and this differentiate it to other animals. It has black, yellow, and white colour patterns. The wild dog preys, on medium size animal such as impala and antelope. They hunt in packs and they prefer to hunt in open space where they can chase instead of stealth like cheetahs. [1][2]

African wild dog are facing threat of extinctions due to habitant fragmentation by human. The threats are influenced by increase of human population that lead to the increase of forest clearing. The majority of African population depend on agriculture for their lively woods. They have livestock and small scale agriculture, which are encroaching on wild dog habitant. These encroachments are tending to limit the size of wild dog habitant it forces them to mix up with top carnivores (such as Lions, cheetahs and Hynes). This made it difficult for them to find prey; as a result, they have to move around to find food. [1][3]

These factors force them onto human dominated land. This is because the space for them to roam around is limited due to the encroachment by human. Farmers are encountering wild dog in their farms. They tend to defend the wild dog on preying on their livestock by killing the wild dog. These tend to be a threat that African wild dog face due to habitant and environment that they live in are destroyed. It also influenced by deforestation of the wild forest for agricultural practise. These problems have to be solved with better management strategies that can help to conserve the African wild dog. [1][4]

There is a need of conserving the land and wildlife environment for the future of wild species as a whole including African wild dog. There land that inhibit wild animal need to be conserved. For the conservation of African wild dog, they have to be moved to area that is protected in order to maintain the number of wild dog. [1]

The law enforced to monitor the protection of wild dog need to be broaden in order to conserve that population of wild dog and maintain the genetic variation. This can be done by zoning of lands to reduce the risk of crossbreeding of wild dog and domesticated dog. There must be monitoring programs that tracks the movement of the wild dog’s pack. This can be done by identifying the areas that there is large population of wild dog. This may also help to reduce the risk of human conflict by reducing husbandry practise and compensation for livestock losses due to wild dog predation. [1]

Reference:

1. African Wild Dog Conservation: Internet [cited 2007 Mar 24]. Available http://www.wcs.org/international/Africa/wilddogs?preview=&psid=&ph=class%2525252525253dawc-148772/2

2. African Wild Dog: Wikipedia contributors. African Wild Dog [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2007 Mar 24, 09:54 UTC [cited 2007 Mar 24. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_Wild_Dog&oldid=117489037.

3. African Wild Dog Status Survey and Action Plan. (1997). Research and Monitoring: Information for Wild Dog Conservation: Internet [cited 2007 Mar 24]. Available from: http://www.canids.org/PUBLICAT/AWDACTPL/8research.htm

4. African Wild Dog Conservation: 2006 Internet [cited 2007 Mar 24]. Available from: http://www.afrikeye.net/Conservation/AWDC/wild_dogs.htm

Mr Elelwani Muanalo

CSIR Pretoria

NISL- Ecological Informatics

P.O. Box 395

Pretoria, 0001

Tel: +27 12 841 2133

email: emuanalo@csir.co.za

blog url:http://muanalo.blogspot.com

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