Also known as the painted dog or the Cape hunting dog, the African wild dog is endangered.  They have been all but eradicated in many parts of Africa and are now mainly found in South and southern East Africa. Their incredibly tight social pack structure that protects and cares for its young and injured is likely the reason they are not fully extinct.

The major reason for their population decline is habitat loss, which leads to increased human-wildlife conflict.  Many African wild dogs lose their lives at the hands of humans in communities who kill them for their encroachment or by nomadic livestock owners who move through the dogs’ habitat with their herds.  Snares set by bush hunters will often indiscriminately trap wild dogs. Lions, who are dominant and territorial, add to the already high mortality rates for the wild dog.