Hunting Behavior and Social Ecology of African Wild Dogs

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are cooperatively breeding highly social hyper-carnivores. The basic social unit is the pack, which in its simplest form revolves around an unrelated dominant pair and their offspring. Group cohesion is central to pack social dynamics, with litters reared collectively, decisions to move made semi-democratically, and hunting occurring collectively—if not collaboratively—over home ranges of several hundred square kilometers. These large ranges coupled with strong Allee effects make this species extinction prone, and urgent conservation actions require a detailed fundamental understanding of the complex inter-pack and inter-individual dynamics that make up the social fabric of this iconic species. In this chapter, we provide an overview of African wild dog social adaptations, particularly about hunting. We present a conceptual framework illustrating the common phases and transitions of a typical hunt, populating descriptions of these phases with examples from different regions and environments within the extant range. Finally, we consider the direct and indirect challenges faced by African wild dogs as they navigate the Anthropocene, including climate impacts and the need to consider complex social dynamics within population management approaches.