Species profile
Lycaon pictus
African wild dog
EN · Endangered — Endangered — very high risk of extinction in the wild
About this species
African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is part of the curated SpeciesWatch catalogue and is classified as Endangered. African wild dogs are among the most successful hunters on Earth — around 8 out of 10 chases end in a kill, far better than lions or leopards. Its recorded population direction is decreasing, so the category needs to be read alongside continuing losses of individuals or local populations.
Habitat, behaviour and ecological role
This profile associates the species with terrestrial, savanna. These labels summarise environments used during different stages of its life rather than drawing an exact range boundary. Packs vote to set off on a hunt by sneezing: when enough members sneeze in agreement, the pack moves out. Its anatomy and behaviour are responses to those environments, while movement can connect distant places requiring different forms of management.
Why this species is at risk
Wild dogs care for their sick and elderly: successful hunters regurgitate food for pups, injured and old pack members alike. The catalogue records 3 principal pressures for this profile: Habitat fragmentation, Human conflict, Disease. They should not be treated as isolated causes. Habitat change, exploitation, pollution, disease and climate stress can reinforce one another, while the importance of each pressure varies between regions and through time.
Conservation outlook
Protecting and reconnecting habitat is a priority, together with infrastructure planning that keeps feeding, breeding or migration routes functional. Direct protection needs to combine enforcement with conflict prevention, demand reduction and local benefits that make coexistence viable. Biosecurity, health surveillance and careful management of small populations help contain risks that can spread rapidly. Actions need long-term monitoring and revision as evidence changes; a positive intervention in one place does not by itself represent recovery across the species.
Editorial review: 2026-08-21
Threat factors
Known occurrences
Dots are georeferenced occurrence records from OBIS (marine) and GBIF (global), not individual animals and not a complete range map. Up to 500 recent API results are cached; the profile renders at most 500 points.
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