African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)

[TheHyenid76]

Interactions between lions and African wild dogs.

A confirmed record of two old adult lionesses being killed by wild dogs in the Kafue National Park

From Predation on Large Mammals in the Kafue National Park, Zambia - Mitchell, Shenton, Uys (1965)

"There are two cases on record of wild dogs killing and eating old lionesses."

TABLE 7. PREDATION BY WILD DOG BY MONTHS

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Predation on Large Mammals in the Kafue National Park, Zambia

Here is a video of a 15 year old lioness being attacking by a pack of wild dogs

Information by Dr Gus Mills on lion and wild dog relations

Lions have bad effect on wild dog numbers. Dr Gus observed lions killing wild dogs on multiple occassions.

"Wild dogs suffer in similar fashion: they lose lives to lions and meals to spotted hyaenas. I once saw a pair of sub-adult male lions kill 7 out of 10 wild dog pups in less than 15 seconds. The pups, accompanied by 13 adults, were moving along the road when the lions rushed out of the bush. The adult dogs scattered in all directions, but the small, 14-week-old pups were unable to escape. The lions just bit the pups and left them lying in the road, some of them still kicking. They made no attempt to eat them. On another occasion, a nursing mother left her den late in the morning for a drink at a nearby waterhole and was ambushed and killed by a lioness. The lioness ate only a small portion of the dog; it then dragged the carcass under a bush and left it."

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Lion predation and aggression is the cause of one-third of wild dog deaths in Kruger.

"Lion predation accounts for almost one-third of wild dog deaths in the Kruger, and is the most common cause of death among wild dogs there. Like cheetah cubs, the dogs are not killed for food, but simply from aggression by a larger species towards a smaller species with encroaching food habits."

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Photo of one of sub-adult male lions who went on a wild dog-killing rampage

"A wild dog pup at the feet and in the jaws of a sub-adult male lion, one of two that had just killed seven pups. Lions have a major impact on the density and distribution of wild dog populations."

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