Making international conservation news over the last few months has been a pack of the highly endangered Cape hunting Dogs / Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus) that have been viewed at Singita as they settled at a den site on part of our property and the Alpha female gave birth to five playful pups! The pack of four adults are now collectively rearing this rare litter.

Wild Dogs are classified in the same family as wolves, foxes, jackals and the domestic dog but they are the only species in the genus Lycaon. They have large rounded ears, a black muzzle, long legs, and broad, bushy white-tipped tails. The colour and pattern of the African Wild Dog’s coat is dramatic and unmistakable - each has a unique pattern of yellow, black, white and gray splotches covering its body, and this is what gives the dogs another of their common names: the Painted Hunting Dog. The scientific name of the African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus, means ornate or painted wolf!

They weigh up to 36 kilograms (79 pounds), and in the wild their life span is suggested to be around 10 years (although this might be an optimistic figure, as the average may be a low as 3 years!!).