Description

Wild Dogs Pack of 4

By Marc Alexander from his ‘In The Balance‘ series. Wild Dogs Pack of 4, oil and silver leaf on canvas, 90cm by 120cm, (2016).

Wild Dogs Pack of 4

The African wild dog is an endangered species, with only four remaining populations in Africa, one of which is Kruger. Their survival is dependent on the pack. A wild dog by itself is not that much of a threat to other animals, but a pack is a different story. Wild dogs have the most structured social order of the carnivores, living in packs led by a dominant male and female. All other members of the pack play a subordinate role to the alpha pair. Wild dogs are masters of the collective approach to hunting. A hunt begins at sunrise or sunset when the dogs perform an elaborate greeting ceremony, sniffing and licking each other, wagging their tails and twittering aloud.
They make a range of chattering sounds and have a distinctive long-distance greeting call – a sharp Hoo – that can be heard up to four kilometres away. During the hunt itself, however, they are silent. Occasionally, they hunt at full moon.