African Wild Dog

African Wild Dog
リカオン
Character Data
Romaji		Rikaon
Debut		Kemono Friends (2015 Game)
Animal Data
Scientific Name		Lycaon pictus
Distribution		Sub-Saharan Africa
Diet		Carnivore
Avg. Lifespan		12 years
Read More		African wild dog
Conservation
African Wild Dog's Merchandise

African Wild Dog

Anime

Season 2

Manga

Festival

Pavilion

KF3

Nexon Game

Gallery

“If you want to make sure all orders are carried out, collaboration is critical. Personally, I have no trouble with that point, but... there are a lot of leisurely types around here, so that's caused a lot of problems.... Honestly, it's kind of disheartening, and sometimes I wish there were five of me around. But let's do our best together.”
—African Wild Dog's introduction

The African Wild Dog is a type of canine Friend which has made multiple appearances across Kemono Friends media.

Appearance

African Wild Dog has large round black ears that fade to sandy brown at the base, medium length sandy brown hair that fades to black at the ends with a vertical black section at the front of her hair, and onyx black eyes. She has a white short sleeve collared shirt, a black bow tied around her shirt's collar, a long sleeve tan, black, and white spotted undershirt similar to an African Wild Dog's appearance, cut off blue jean shorts, black, white, and tan spotted leggings, a tan tail with a black ring at the center that is white to the end, and white knee length boots tied with black laces.

Series Appearances

Appearances In Kemono Friends Media

Media		Role	First Appearance
2015	Nexon Game	↪ Minor character, obtainable
2015	Kemono Friends: Welcome to Japari Park!	↪ Minor character	Chapter 8
2017	Kemono Friends (2017 Anime)	↪ Minor supporting character	S1E11: Cellien
2018	Kemono Friends Pavilion	↪ Minor character, observable
2018	Kemono Friends Puzzle Puzzle Gokko	Minor character
2018	Kemono Friends Festival	↪ Minor character, obtainable
2018	Kemono Friends Picross	Appears in multiple puzzles
2019	Kemono Friends 2	↪ Cameo	S2E05: The Power of Humans
2019	Kemono Friends 3	↪ Minor character, obtainable
2019	Kemono Friends 3: Planet Tours	↪ Playable character

Kemono Friends Puzzle Puzzle Gokko

African Wild Dog appears as a minor character in Puzzle Puzzle Gokko. She appears on top of the board on some levels of the game as a still picture of her anime model.

Kemono Friends Picross

African Wild Dog appears in 2 different puzzles of Kemono Friends Picross where the player can obtain a picture of the friend by solving a puzzle.

In Real Life

An African wild dog surveying the landscape.

The African wild dog, Latin name Lycaon pictus—meaning "painted wolf," which aptly describes the animal's colorful coat of dark brown, black and yellow patches—is a wolf-like canid native to sub-Saharan regions of Africa. While they are similar to domesticated dogs, to which they are closely related, they sport a notable morphological difference in the number of toes that they have: four toes as opposed to the five that other dogs have. They are also distinguished by their massive jaws, long legs, and large, bat-like ears. Their tails are bushy with conspicuous white tips, the movement of which may serve a communicative function for hunting parties. No two wild dogs have the exact same pattern of markings, making it easy to identify different individuals.

Wild dogs typically live in packs of six to as many as around 30 individuals; if the numbers fall below six, the pack's hunting efficiency erodes. They usually hunt in the early morning and again in late evening, preying on gazelles and other antelopes, warthogs, wildebeests and birds. They may also raid domestic livestock, but as wild dogs seldom stay in one place for long, the damage they do to farmers' livelihoods is typically not extensive. Wild dogs are usually on the move over a very large range, covering some 900 miles at regular intervals. After a litter of pups is born, however, they limit their travelling and hunt in areas closer to the den until the newcomers can keep up with the rest of the pack.

By virtue of their complex social structures and team tactics, African wild dogs are known for being some of the most consistently-successful hunters among all predators, with 60-90% of wild dog hunts ending in a successful kill. This allows them to maintain large pack populations, as does their tendency to care for one another; for example, African wild dogs allow puppies to eat first and foremost, helping them to grow quickly into yearlings, at which point they yield first rights to the newer generation of puppies.

The primary threat to African wild dogs is habitat fragmentation, which increases their contact with humans and their domestic animals, resulting in human-wildlife conflict and the transmission of infectious diseases such as rabies. Even in large, well-protected reserves, African wild dogs live at low population densities, as regulated by competition with and predation by lions and spotted hyenas; this helps to ensure that wild dog populations do not exceed what their prey animals can withstand. Conservation strategies have been developed for the species in all regions of Africa, and many range states have used these strategies as templates for their own national action plans. These strategies are accessible at www.cheetahandwilddog.org.

Trivia

• African wild dogs vote on whether or not to go on a hunt by sneezing, whereas if a majority of the pack sneezes they will go on the hunt. While dogs that are near the top of the pack hierarchy have more influence in this process, even they can be outvoted if enough dogs disagree.
• Across the world's languages, including those of indigenous African peoples, the African wild dog species boasts a wide variety of different names.
  • Some argue against the scientific integrity of "African wild dog," citing the possible adverse effects of the "wild dog" name to the species' image and often promoting the common names of "painted wolf" or "painted dog".

References

1. "Sneeze to leave: African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)".

2. "Lycaon pictus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

3. "What’s in a name? An evidence-based approach to understanding the implications of vernacular name on conservation of the painted dog (Lycaon pictus) (Language & Ecology, 2019-2020)".

4. Schaller, G. B. (1973). Golden Shadows, Flying Hooves. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 277.

5. Estes, R. (1992). The behavior guide to African mammals: including hoofed mammals, carnivores, primates. University of California Press. pp. 410–419.