Papers on the Lycaon Pictus (African Wild Dog) by Roger Burrows

Two Young African Wild Dogs © Richard Bullock

INVASIVE RESEARCH, REDUCED LONGEVITY AND MORTALITY IN AN ENDANGERED SPECIES, THE AFRICAN WILD DOG (Lycaon pictus), with special reference to the extinction of the Serengeti-Mara study population 1985-91. Roger Burrows (December 2003).

The African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) an African endemic species is highly endangered with now perhaps less than 5,000 individuals. Between 1985-1991 the entire wild dog study population comprising 14 packs containing approximately 200 individuals died or disappeared from two study areas in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem of Tanzania (Serengeti) and Kenya (Mara), East Africa where the species had been considered a 'flagship species' for conservation.

The ecosystem population did not become extinct in 1991 a non study population persisted within and around the ecosystem throughout the study period and persists to date.

'Young Lycaon Male' is top dog - by Roger Burrows (2003)

In the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) breeding hierarchy a young male takes over as alpha when one of the alpha pair in their pack dies, or if two cohorts of males emigrate together from their natal pack or when a male pup is adopted by unrelated adult males. The diverse range of circumstances in which this 'Young Male' protocol has been found to operate in free living packs in contrasting habitats and in captive colonies suggests that it is genetically determined. This probably unique protocol in mammal behaviour has important implications for pack longevity and hence for the conservation, management and captive breeding of this highly endangered species.

Pack formation, protocols of social behaviour and conservation of the African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)- by Roger Burrows (October 2002)

Lycaon is a highly social, medium sized canid endemic to Africa where it lives in packs. The simplest pack comprises a lone pair of usually unrelated individuals plus or minus their offspring living on a home range. However, most packs consist of a dominant (alpha) breeding pair and their offspring, accompanied by subordinate same sex adult relatives of either or both of the alpha pair and sometimes offspring of one or more subordinate pairs. Totally unrelated individuals or groups of either sex may sometimes join such packs, usually temporarily.

Wild Dogs in the Serengeti - by Roger Burrows (2002)

A 'youth first' social protocol has been identified in the Serengeti African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) male social hierarchy. The protocol ensures that when either one of an alpha pair dies a male from the youngest cohort in the pack assumes the status of alpha in the resulting all male group and that all the females emigrate. This protocol which is probably unique in mammals is basic to understanding the reason for the phenomenon of sudden 'pack dissolution' and therefore has considerable general practical implications for the conservation of the species throughout Africa. What has not previously been recognised is that this 'youth first' protocol is .......

To Browse

-- Choose a Country -- Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Burundi Cameroon Central African Rep Chad Congo Cote D'Ivoire Democratic Rep of Congo Djibouti Egypt Eritrea Equatorial Guinea Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mocambique Morocco Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Western Sahara Zambia Zimbabwe

To Search

The African Conservation Foundation