ZooNooz Article - December 2003

War and Peace

Understanding the husbandry requirements of African Wild Dogs is essential to maintaining and successfully breeding these gregarious but ferocious pack hunters, writes keeper KEVIN MILTON.

Photographs Leonie Saville and Taronga Western Plains Zoo

The African Wild Dog, also known as the Cape Hunting Dog or Painted Wolf, is not related to the domestic dog but represents a separate evolutionary line that is unique to Africa and goes back some fifteen million years. Wild dogs are essentially pack animals, with a typical pack comprising an alpha female, males in a breeding hierarchy that changes constantly within a breeding period, and several puppies from previous litters.

The African Wild Dog - also known as the Cape Hunting Dog or Painted Wolf.

Once occurring in 19 African countries, these dogs are now the most endangered canine species on the planet. Only four countries retain stronghold populations in their national parks - Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa and Zambia.

Western Plains Zoo first became home to African Wild Dogs in 1982 when five males and seven females arrived from Adelaide and Perth Zoos. Early records show that packs were formed amongst these animals, but aggression was rife and several animals were injured. This aggression did not subside and there were no litters produced in those early days.

Then, in February 1985, disaster struck with eight dogs dying mysteriously. Poisoning was suspected but autopsies found no clinical evidence.

More dogs were acquired from Perth Zoo, Melbourne Zoo and from a private zoo in Coolangatta, and two breeding packs were formed in late 1985. However, aggression persisted and many dogs were injured and deaths were reported.

Only one pack showed breeding behaviour when the female, Yellow Tag, was reported to have been mated by No Tag, then four weeks later by White Tag. Yellow Tag's first litter of puppies, one male and four females, was born in April 1986 and she went on to produce 34 puppies out of seven litters, three of which were produced in one year - an event never before recorded in wild dog breeding behaviour. She died in late 1993.

During the 1990s we began to breed from animals born at Taronga Western Plains. However, the initial two years were difficult with the pack dynamics changing due to old age and the introduction of a contraceptive (melengestrol acetate) which created turmoil in the pack hierarchy. (Contraceptives were necessary at that time to prevent related dogs in the same pack from breeding with one another.)

It was difficult to stay one step ahead of the aggressive outbursts. Often an injured dog would need to be removed from the pack for veterinary attention, and re-introduction was complicated - the rest of the pack would become aggressive towards the dog which smelt unfamiliar because of the antiseptics and the human smell impregnated into its coat and on the wound site.

African Wild Dogs

We learned to overcome this aggression by withholding food prior to the removal of an individual, then offering a whole carcass to distract the hungry pack whilst discreetly reintroducing the separated individual. By the time the carcass was consumed, the other members of the pack were covered in blood and gut contents and all smelled the same.

Then, to our surprise and great disappointment, we discovered that melengestrol acetate caused malignant tumors, so we stopped using it as a contraceptive.

In mid 1997, Taronga Western Plains acquired new genetic material in a pair of unrelated dogs from Perth Zoo. The aim was to integrate them with three females held in Dubbo.

A new in-house protocol was established. All dogs can now have access to all the yards and areas of the breeding complex so none becomes more familiar or confident in any particular area. This enables them to see and hear each other and become familiar with each other's scent before being physically introduced.

This led to a swift and successful introduction and, by late 1997, mating was observed. A litter of pups was produced in April 1998 and the newly formed pack successfully produced subsequent litters.

So here we are, a total of 65 puppies and 14 litters later, with the largest African Wild Dog breeding pack in Australasia. We have acquired an intimate knowledge of the behaviour of the dogs and we have shared this with our colleagues. We have witnessed the tragedy of a litter being consumed by the pack, and the joy of establishing several new breeding packs, the most recent of which was earlier this year.

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