Safari Park joins fight to save endangered hunting dog

Aug 28 2007 by Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post

A MAJOR fundraising drive has been launched at Knowsley Safari Park to help one of its rarest exhibits in the wild, African Hunting Dogs.

The park wants to raise thous-ands of pounds to support con-servation work in South Africa to ensure the endangered species is saved from extinction.

Knowsley has the only pack of this critically-endangered species in the region.

Safari Park general manager David Ross said last night: “The dogs have suffered a catastro-phic drop in numbers and the latest estimates suggest there are only 3,000 left in the wild.

“Because they attack livestock they have been widely hunted by man, but they have also been affected by diseases like canine distemper and by reductions in the populations of their prey.

“In some areas, they are now close to extinction, which is why we are keen to breed them here at Knowsley and to support conservation efforts in Africa.”

As well as the fundraising drive, there will be an exhibition about the dogs at the park which is designed to raise awareness of their plight. Children can also enter a “paint a painted dog” competition.

The money raised will support the work of the Centre for Wild-life Management in Kwazulu Natal, in South Africa, which is trying to reintroduce the species to its local area. Numbers have grown from six dogs in 1997 to more than 80 today.

Mr Ross added: “Hunting Dogs are wonderful animals and we’re hoping that our visitors will join with us in digging deep to raise funds for this very good cause.”

African Hunting Dogs are also known as African Wild Dogs, Cape Hunting Dogs or Painted Dogs. The Latin name for the species literally means “painted wolf” which reflects the dog’s colourful coat of brown, black, yellow and white patches. Rath- er like fingerprints in humans, no two dogs have exactly the same pattern on their fur.

In the wild, the dogs roam over large areas of the grass-lands and savannah plains of Africa. They are exclusively carnivorous, eating everything from rodents and hares up to medium-sized antelope and gazelle, and in some cases even killing larger prey like wildebeest and zebra.

They are perfectly built for the chase with light bodies, long legs and massive jaws. They also have large, oval ears which help to combat the heat.

African Hunting Dogs have an amazing social structure, living in packs of six to 20 animals with each pack led by a domi-nant (alpha) pair who stay together for life.

It is usually only this pair that breed, with litters averaging about 10 pups. All the remaining – mostly male – members of the pack help to raise the pups.

There is a high degree of social interaction between pack members, who communicate with each other using calls and body postures.

They have elaborate greeting rituals, accompanied by twittering and whining, and take part in an unusual bonding ceremony before starting a hunt.

larryneild