When it comes to the director of proctology in the African savannah, many people will think of hyenas, after all, the African second brother is a well-known professional extraction.
However, it is not only hyenas that can pluck out their anuses, but also another animal that is so fierce that they even pull hyenas.
They are the "wolves" of the African savannah, the African wild dogs.
Flocks of African wild dogs
African wild dogs are slender, have no advantage in size, and appear out of place in the African savannah, which is known for its strength.
Unlike the other emaciated cheetah, the African wild dog knows how to unite, and when they form a large group, there seems to be nothing to fear!
Let's walk into Africa's rare top canid, the African wild dog, and see how they have won the fierce competition in Africa.
African wild dogs often engage in cooperative hunting operations
What survival wisdom do they have?
And what do they have with baboons?
What is the current state of life of African wild dogs?
Attack dogs: African wild dogs kill more than fifty baboons in three years!
African wild dog herd
The "wolves" of the African savannah
The African savannah is large in number, but the top predators are known for their cats.
Needless to say, the "King of the Prairie" lion, in addition, the leopard's combat strength is not bad, and it can grab a place in the case of single-handedness.
The "director of the proctology" hyena, although it has the word "dog" in its name, is more closely related to felines according to the evolutionary direction and genes.
All three animals belong to an evolutionary branch called the cat-type suborder, so the African savannah is basically a civil war of "cat houses".
Both lions and hyenas belong to the cat suborder
But among them, there is a canine that has been killed, and they are african wild dogs, also known as pansies.
The African wild dog is smaller than that of medium and large pet dogs, weighing only about 30 kg, shoulder height is less than half a meter, and the length is only 0.85 to 1.4 meters.
Such a body structure is not to mention lions and hyenas, even cheetahs are difficult.
However, African wild dogs are well versed in the survival of canines, that is, unity is strength.
They usually have flocks of 7 to 15 animals, with the largest of which there have been more than 100.
United African wild dogs
The wild dog group will choose a leading couple, and the other members are willing to serve as tool dogs, responsible for hunting and feeding children.
Members receive food regardless of whether they participate in the hunt or not.
When the leader unfortunately dies, the wild dog group will elect a candidate, and the children left by the leader will continue to be fed.
There have been cases of female leaders dying and 8 male African wild dogs pulling older children.
The main food of African wild dogs is the herbivores of the African savannah, such as wildebeest, antelope, zebra, etc., and it is reasonable to say that their main competitors are lions and hyenas, but African wild dogs hate baboons more than the first two.
African wild dog hunting
Dog baboons complain
Baboons are arguably the most aggressive beings in primates, especially the male baboons' canine teeth, which are no less long than those of cats on the grassland.
And baboons are not vegan animals, they also eat meat, and will actively hunt the animal's cubs to eat.
An adult male baboon weighs about 50 kilograms, and it dares to provoke even a single lion, anyway, he can climb trees and be unscrupulous.
It may be precisely because of the long hands, which makes it particularly convenient for baboons to catch children of other animals, pick them up and run.
Therefore, there are many animals in the grasslands that have been blackhanded by baboons.
Canine teeth of male baboons
African wild dogs are also one of the victims.
African wild dogs are gregarious and have a clear division of labor, leaving one or two members to act as nannies when the wild dog group needs to go out hunting.
At this time, the baboons came, they also lived in groups, and their IQ was arguably the highest presence on the African savannah.
Part of them distracts the wild dog nanny, and the other part goes to grab the child, and after grabbing the little wild dog, they quickly go up the tree, leaving the nanny to dry under the tree.
Baboons who have gone up to the tree will even eat the small wild dogs directly in front of the wild dogs, deliberately dropping the residue on the ground, killing the dogs and killing them.
Baboons kidnap little lions
African wild dogs are very emotional animals, and small wild dogs are the hope of the entire population, and being killed in this way will make the entire wild dog group sad, and some of them will take revenge.
So after generation after generation of accumulation, finally, this "dog baboon grudge" completely broke out!
According to the continuous tracking of African wild dogs, the number of baboons in the feces of some wild dogs has begun to increase, indicating that wild dogs have gradually increased the proportion of baboons in their diets.
Zoologists tracked two groups of wild dogs in an area, with wild dog group A hunting a total of 45 baboons between 2015 and 2017, and wild dog group B hunting a total of eight baboons.
Two herds of wild dogs killed more than 50 baboons in three years, with the former killing more than five times as many baboons as the latter.
It can be seen that some wild dog groups have begun to fight back against the baboons! However, wild dogs do not go up trees, how do they hunt baboons?
African wild dogs prey on baboons
Super patience
African wild dogs hunt two treasures, one is cooperation, the other is endurance, they can run more than thirty kilometers continuously, and they will also take wheel wars to consume the endurance of their prey.
Baboons live in trees, but the sparse vegetation of the African savannah sometimes forces them to move on foot on the ground.
The wild dogs took advantage of this time to chase the baboon herd, causing some baboons to panic and climb a lonely tree.
Since there were no other large trees around, the baboon had to go down the tree if he wanted to join his own group.
Sparse vegetation of the African savannah
The baboon knows that he can't leave the tree, because he is not a rival to the wild dogs in terms of running ability, so he can only spend time with the wild dogs to see who loses patience first.
Unfortunately, the baboons encountered the most patient animals in the entire African savannah, and the wild dogs would wait under the trees for the baboons to come down, and they would also take turns, just like the baboons, anyway, they could afford to wait.
But the baboon can't afford to wait, it needs to eat, return to its own group, a tree is not enough for it to live, so under such consumption, the baboon will be because of the lack of food and lack of strength, and finally fall from the tree on its own.
No way, the baboon decided to take advantage of the wild dog's negligence to get down the tree and run away quickly, as long as he ran to another tree, perhaps a short victory.
Baboons on trees
And the wild dogs are waiting for this moment, when they find the baboons under the tree, the wild dogs will go up in groups, and the baboons are weak, even if they are strong, it is difficult to compete with the fangs of a group of wild dogs.
Zoologists believe that African wild dogs have a strong sense of revenge in hunting baboons, because a single baboon is simply not enough for a wild dog to eat.
Each time they hunt baboons, they take a lot of time, and they also consume their own energy, which is not worth the loss.
But some wild dog herds seem to be happy to hunt baboons, and it is possible that baboons have robbed the puppies of this wild dog herd before.
In short, the predation of Baboons by African wild dogs is not a common phenomenon in the species of wild dogs, and can only be attributed to the behavior of individual groups.
Baboons are killed by African wild dogs
But it can be seen from this that the African wild dog is an animal with a collective concept.
Lions, hyenas, and more interest groups.
For example, the female lion does not care who the leader is, when eating, the male lion robs the female lion, the female lion robs the baby lion, and whoever is stronger eats more; In the hyena herd, the queen has absolute power, and she can rob the weaker individuals of food.
The African wild dog is not, as long as it is a member of the group, everyone can get food, even if it is injured and does not participate, other members will regurgitate it to eat.
However, such a serious African wild dog is facing a serious existential crisis.
African wild dogs ruminate food for members
The current situation of African wild dogs
Historically, African wild dogs have had a maximum of one million, but with the activity of humans, their numbers have become smaller and smaller, the main reason is the disease transmission of human domestic dogs.
African wild dogs and domestic dogs belong to the same family of canines, so some common diseases of domestic dogs, such as canine distemper, rabies, small, etc., can also be transmitted to African wild dogs.
This wave of canine infections has also affected other canids in Africa, such as black-backed jackals and Ethiopian wolves.
In addition, because of the rise of animal husbandry, local herders fear that African wild dogs pose a threat to their livestock herds, and have consciously or unconsciously acquiesced to the spread of these diseases, resulting in a sharp decline in the number of African wild dogs.
An already endangered African wild dog
Under such circumstances, the Number of African Wild Dogs is now just over 3,000, about 25 populations, and is an endangered species. It can be seen that under the influence of this wave of human beings, even if the African wild dogs are united, they cannot withstand the infection of the virus.