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The Cape Wild Dog

East African Wild Dog

West African Wild Dog

The Chadian Wild Dog

The Somali Wild Dog

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Carnivores-by which we mean, for the purposes of this article, meat-eating mammals-are some of the most feared animals on Earth. These predators come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from two-ounce weasels to half-ton bears, and they eat everything from birds, fish, and reptiles to each other.

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Why Carnivores Are Some of the Most Feared Animals on Earth

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Carnivores, including dogs, cats, hyenas, and other mammals, are some of the most dangerous animals on earth.

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Lion - Panthera Leo
Giant Panda - Ailuropoda Melanoleuca
Tiger - Panteria Tigris
Polar Bear - Ursus
Shared Characteristics:
All are meat eaters

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Llama - Lama Glama
Moose - Alces Alces
Koala - Phascularctos Cinereus
Skunk - Mephitis Mephitis
Killer Whale - Orcinus Orca
Shared Characteristics:
All have hair or fur on their body

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Shark - Selachimorpha
Rabbit - Oryctolagus
Bird - Aves
Salamon - Salmo Salar
Frog - Anura
Human - Homo Sapiens
Shared Characteristics:
All share nerve chords and a tail

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Jaguar - Panthera Onca
Mouse - Mus Musculus
Squirrel - Sciuridae
Alligator - Alligator mississippienis
Snake - Serpentes
Bat - Chiropetra
Donkey - Equuis Asinus
Similar Characteristics:
All multicellular eukaryotic organisms

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Wolf - Canis Lupus
Red Fox - Vulpes Vulpes
Coyote - Canis Latrans
Shared Characteristics:
Similar length and form of their muscles and limbs as well as they are all digitigrade

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Read about these fascinating creatures below, then see them firsthand on safari with National Geographic.

A dog by any other name: The African wild dog also goes by the names of Cape hunting dog or painted dog. Like a zebra's unique stripe pattern or a human's fingerprint, no two dogs have the same markings on their coat. Mottled with red, black, brown, white, and yellow patches of fur, the effect is as striking as it is essential to survival.

Play it by ear: Like satellite dishes, the large rounded ears of African wild dogs swivel to detect minute sounds in the distance.

Less is more: Another way African wild dogs differ from domestic dogs: They only have four toes per foot.

Survival of the fastest: Wild dogs can sprint after prey at speeds of up to 44 miles an hour.

Pack mentality: African wild dogs live and die for their family-literally. Though the bigger the clan the more efficient the hunt, non-breeding adults sacrifice their own nourishment to ensure the pups in the group get enough to eat and grow. Subsequently these altruistic elders tend to gradually become malnourished and die younger than their peers in packs with fewer offspring.

Top dogs: With an impressive 80 percent success rate, wild dogs are among Africa's most effective predators. Lions only prevail around 30 percent of the time.

Not exactly man's best friend: Even with their finely honed hunting skills, African wild dogs count among the world's most endangered mammals. According to the IUCN Red List, only around 6,600 wild dogs remain, mostly in Tanzania, northern Mozambique, and southern Africa. The biggest threats facing the species come from their increased contact with humans: habitat loss, villagers seeking revenge against killed livestock, and viral diseases contracted from domestic dogs.

Not all who wander are lost: African wild dogs spend their days prowling huge amounts of territory, with home ranges of up to several hundred square miles in the open plains and sparse woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. Consider this comparison: Greater London is home to 8.8 million people, but an area that size could only support one or two African wild dog packs.

Adventures in babysitting: A monogamous pair of alpha dogs leads each pack, with the whole crew caring for each litter of pups-from taking turns guarding and nursing the pups to regurgitating meat after a hunt.

No dog left behind: African wild dogs work together in packs of 6 to 20 or more to hunt antelopes and even larger prey such as wildebeests. These highly social beasts communicate with each other by touch, actions, and vocalizations-before a hunt, you can see them playfully circling each other and seeming to psych each other up for the endeavor. They're also one of the few mammals that care for the old, sick, and disabled members of the pack.

African wild dogs are among the continent's rarest wildlife sightings; travelers have a relatively high chance of spotting these captivating canines in the wildlife parks of South Africa, Tanzania, and Botswana, to name a few.

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10 Facts About African Wild Dogs (Cape Hunting Dogs) | National Geographic Expeditions

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Read about these fascinating creatures below, then see them firsthand on safari with National Geographic. A dog by any other name: The African wild dog also goes by the names of Cape hunting dog or painted dog. Like a zebra's unique stripe pattern or a human's fingerprint, no two dogs have the same markings on their coat.

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Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chiordata
Class - Mammalia
Order- Carnivora
Family - Canidae
Genus - Lycaon
Species - L. Pictus

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Lycaon Sekowei
The only other animal in the lycaon genus
Is now extinct
Shared Characteristics:
Both have accessory cusps on the premolars