In Touch With Nature – The difference between hyenas and wild dogs #hyena #wilddogs #Intouchwithnature

Posted: May 22, 2024 | Author: robertawrites235681907 | Filed under: Africa, Animals, In Touch With Nature, Poetry, Wildlife | Tags: African Wild Dogs, Hyenas, In Touch With Nature, Lion Scream, Painted Dogs, Poetry, Robbie Cheadle, Wildlife, Writing to be Read | 56 Comments

A landscape with the words: In Touch With Nature, "The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for." Ernest Hemmingway

My In Touch With Nature post last month was all about wild dogs. You can read that post here: https://writingtoberead.com/2024/04/24/in-touch-with-nature-highly-endangered-african-painted-wild-dogs-africanwildlife-africanwilddogs/

Several readers questioned the relationship between hyenas and wild dogs. I didn’t realise that there was confusion between these creatures because I’ve grown up knowing the differences (or some of them at least). This month, I am providing some insights into those differences.

First and foremost, wild dogs are canines and hyenas are Hyaenidae. Hyenas are considered to be ‘cat-like’ carnivores and are evolutionarily closer to felines than canines.

Appearance

Wild dogs have large, rounded ears that stand up on their heads as if perpetually listening. The African painted wild dog has a pattern on its coat that resembles paint splashes in white, ochre, and black. Wild dogs are the largest of the African canine and measure between 60 and 75 centimetres tall at their shoulders. They weight between 18 and 36 kilograms and have long, slender legs.

Picture caption: African painted wild dog with large, rounded ears and long slender ears.

Hyenas have smaller ears that they draw back towards their heads. The spotted hyena has a brown-coloured coat with small dark brown spots scattered all over it and a main of longer hair. Spotted hyenas have short hind legs and longer front legs. They are larger and stronger than wild dogs having a height of up to 92 centimetres at the shoulder and a weight of up to 86 kilograms.

Behaviour

Wild dogs

Wild dogs are always on the move as they are threatened by bigger, stronger predators. They live in packs ranging from approximately 7 to 15 members and roam huge territories in search of food. Male wild dogs stay with their birth packs and females leave and find another one to join.

Packs are usually led by a dominant pair, although every member plays a valuable role. Team players, wild dogs care for other members of their pack and never leave a pack member behind.

Wild dogs are known for their endurance and can run long distances to wear down their prey. Wild dogs can reach a top speed of approximately 60 kilometres per hour (44 miles per hour).

Wild dogs are primarily diurnal like cheetahs, meaning they hunt during the day. Wild dogs are excellent hunters with an 85% hunting success rate, making them one of the most successful predators in the world. Working as a team, they can wear down animals like zebras, wildebeest (gnu) and large antelope like kudu. During a hunt, each member assumes a role as follows: subordinate males separate the target, the pack leader runs down the prey, and the others fan out to cover escape routes. Wild dogs nip and tear at their prey with their teeth as it continues to run away from them.

Hyenas

Hyenas live in groups, or clans, of between 6 and 100 individuals. Their complex social hierarchies are dominated by the larger and more aggressive females. They are much more aggressive than wild dogs and spend a lot of time fighting among each other. Despite this behaviour, the members of the pack work together to raise their young. Juveniles eat first at kills and the older females tend to sick and elderly pack members, even regurgitating food for them.

Opportunistic hunters and scavengers, hyenas have a reputation for stealing food from other predators. Hyenas are nocturnal meaning they hunt at night. Although they look ungainly, spotted hyenas can pursue prey for several kilometres without tiring. They can reach a top speed of approximately 60 kilometres per hour (37 miles per hour) and their heart is, proportionately, twice as big as a lion’s. Spotted hyenas often hunt alone but they can take down larger prey if they hunt as a pack. However, if the opportunity presents itself, they will steal from other predators including cheetahs and wild dogs.

Picture caption: Juvenile spotted hyena in the sunlight

Picture caption: Juvenile hyena with its brown coat covered in small darker markings and its mane of longer hair.

YT video of a young spotted hyena in the wild:

YT video of an adult spotted hyena:

The poem below, from my book Lion Scream, is about the unusual genitalia and birthing process of spotted hyenas. I wrote a guest post about which featured on my lovely blogging friend, Meeks’, blog. If you missed it, you can read it here: https://acflory.wordpress.com/2023/03/19/the-hyena-natures-feminist/

Nature’s Trick

My gender is obscure
One of nature’s tricks
I have the same appendages as my mate
I am also bigger
Much more aggressive
***
Birthing is difficult
My babies – stillborn
After suffocating in my birth canal
Only the strong survive
To continue my line
***
When my pack makes a kill
I get my share first
When all females have fed, and

then our offspring
Then, and only then
Do the males partake

Picture caption: Cover of Lion Scream featuring a lion with its mouth open in a roar.

About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has two published novels and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).

Roberta also has thirteen children’s books and two poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.

Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

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In Touch with Nature – Highly endangered African painted wild dogs #Africanwildlife #Africanwilddogs

Posted: April 24, 2024 | Author: robertawrites235681907 | Filed under: Africa, Animals, In Touch With Nature, Nature, Wildlife | Tags: African Wild Dogs, In Touch With Nature, Nature, Robbie Cheadle, Wildlife, Writing to be Read | 77 Comments

The African wild dog, also called the hunting dog or African painted dog, is currently listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. According to the African Wildlife Foundation, only 6,600 African wild dogs remain in the wild across the entire African continent. The main reason for their endangerment is habitat fragmentation (the most common reason for wildlife endangerment) which causes conflict between these predators and humans. Throughout Africa, wild dogs have been shot and poisoned by farmers for loss of livestock, even though these losses are frequently due to other predators including hyenas and leopards. In addition, African wild dogs also suffer from endemic disease outbreaks.

African wild dogs have a mottled coat comprising of yellow, black and white patches. They have long legs with flat, broad heads, a short black muzzle, and large round ears.

Wild dogs have strong social bonds and live in packs of two to twenty-seven adults and yearling pups.

Wild dogs are excellent hunters. They hunt in packs of six to twenty individuals and catch their prey by chasing them to exhaustion. Wild dogs can run at speeds of up to 66 km/h (41 mph) for between 10 to 60 continuous minutes. They have an 80 percent kill success rate with is higher than bigger predators like lions and leopards.

Observers have noticed that prior to setting out to hunt, the wild dogs’ populations in the Okavango Delta of Botswana rally to determine whether they should depart. Departure is more likely when more individual dogs sneeze, a short sharp exhale through the nostrils. If a dominant dog initiates by sneezing, around three additional sneezes guarantee departure.

Sighting a pack of African wild dogs in the wild has been on my bucket list for a long time. I was lucky enough to see a pack of wild dogs at the Bthongo Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve but they live inside a relatively small enclosure and are fed.

Picture caption: Wild dogs at the Bthongo Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve

Obviously, seeing wild dogs in captivity is not quite the same as seeing them in a national park or game reserve. I was, therefore, delighted when we saw wild dogs at Madikwe Game Reserve not once, but two days in a row. We were fortunate enough to observe, the hunt (chase), devouring of a kill, and wild dogs relaxing and having fun.

Picture caption: Wild dog in the road. A pause before the chase began.

Picture caption: Wild dog getting into his running stride.

Picture caption: After feeding, this wild dog is sated.

Picture caption above and below: Two wild dogs picking over the remaining carcass.

The poem below, Dog Vote, is extracted from my poetry book, Lion Scream.

Dog Vote

They yelp and growl at play
Then sleep in a mass
Of black fur, overlapped with yellow and white
They are invisible
Among the shadows
***
Having strong social bonds
Wild dogs live in packs
Dominated by a single breeding pair
But they all have a say
Conveyed as a vote
***
Before leaving to hunt
The adults rally
Sneezing to express a preference to hunt
The majority rules
All members comply

This is my YT video of African wild dogs playing:

My YT video of a juvenile African wild dogs rolling:

African wild dogs in a gathering:

Wild dogs fighting over a kill:

With their numbers continuing to drop, I may never see wild dogs in the bush again.

About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Roberta also has thirteen children’s books and two poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.