Life Lessons From African Painted Dogs

BeProvided Conservation Radio

My guest today is Dr. Greg Rasmussen, founder of the Painted Dog Research Trust.

The African Painted Dog is one of the most beautiful animals I have seen in the wild. Their body is covered in patches of black and tan that do look painted on with a brush! AND they have huge rounded ears and a furry white tipped tail.

I am Marcia Sivek and this is BeProvided Conservation Radio.

My first sighting of the dogs in a natural setting was in Namibia, at Erindi Game Reserve. A gate opened to enter the natural area of the reserve and there they were, a pile of black and tan spots. There were groups laying around on each other, some curled up sleeping others laying on their backs with legs in the air just like a house dog playing and enjoying time in the sun.They are social creatures and I could tell there were both young and older dogs in the group interacting with each other. When seeing such playfulness I almost felt like I could reach down and rub their bellies!

Then one yawned and that’s when I saw the teeth - large sharp scissor-like molars and I greatly appreciated I was safely sitting in a safari vehicle. They definitely demand respect.

Listen to the high pitch greeting sounds of dogs as they greet each other. This audio and the video of these dogs greeting each other is provided by the Endangered Wolf Center in St Louis and can be seen at www.beprovided.com.