African Wild Dog

Meet some of the Zoo's newest residents --- African wild dogs. "Dede," the female is 9 years old, and "Dayle," the male is 5 years old.

Featured as one of the premier species in the Zoo's new Africa Live 2! exhibit, wild dogs are not only fun to watch, but they are very important from a conservation standpoint.

Roaming the savannahs of Central and Southern Africa, wild dogs live in small to large packs. Competing with lions, leopards, and other predators for food, wild dogs work together to survive. To prevent their food from being stolen, wild dogs eat very quickly. In fact, a single wild dog can eat up to twenty pounds of meat in 10 minutes. Think about that for a moment ...the equivalent would be one person eating 200-quarter pound hamburgers!

Also known as painted dogs, these amazing animals are one of Africa's most
endangered predators with less than 5,000 estimated to be left in the wild. That's one reason the San Antonio Zoo is working with African Wild Dog Conservationto fund wild dog field conservation, research and education.

Africa Live 2! NOW OPEN! Stop by today to see wild dogs, dwarf mongoose, hyrax, Angolan colobus monkey, okapi, and a giant aviary with birds of every color and size imaginable.