Wildlife
African Wild Dog
The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), also known as cape hunting dog, African hunting dog, African painted dog, painted hunting dog or painted wolf, is a canid native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Recorded year-round
Recorded in every month, so no month is the wrong month to look. We would rather say that than invent a best time.
Curve from 1,415 national iNaturalist observations, not from one property. Single-month spikes are discarded as upload artefacts, and below 50 records we show no curve at all.
Mpumalanga and beyond
Provinces where African Wild Dog is most recorded. Tap one to find places to stay.
1,415 records, iNaturalist
Parks where hosts record the African Wild Dog
Places to stay
20+ results in South Africa
The African wild dog is the rarest large carnivore in the country and, for many guides, the best sighting on offer. Packs cover enormous distances, sometimes forty kilometres in a day, so no reserve can promise them. What changes the odds is the denning season. From roughly June to August a pack settles at a den to raise pups, stops moving and becomes findable for weeks at a stretch.
The northern Kruger and the private reserves on its boundary, Madikwe in the North West, and the Zululand reserves including Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and Phinda are where South Africa holds its packs, and the population is managed as a single metapopulation, with animals moved between fenced reserves to keep it viable. That work is run in large part by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, one of the causes stays on Spekboom support.
Wild dogs hunt in the cool of early morning and late afternoon at a flat run, and a pack on the move is impossible to keep up with. Ask at your lodge which way the pack was last seen heading, because with this species yesterday matters more than any season.
- Which parks and reserves are best for the African Wild Dog in South Africa?
- Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the African Wild Dog at stays in or beside Kruger National Park, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Timbavati Private Nature Reserve and Madikwe Game Reserve. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.
- Where can you see the African Wild Dog in South Africa?
- The African Wild Dog is most recorded in Mpumalanga (62% of records), Limpopo (23% of records), KwaZulu-Natal (8% of records), based on 1 415 iNaturalist observations. 21 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the African Wild Dog on site or nearby.
- When is the best time to see the African Wild Dog?
- The African Wild Dog is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Sabi Sand Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep optimal; Timbavati Private Nature Reserve: May-Sep, dry season; Madikwe Game Reserve: Apr-Sep. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.
- What is the conservation status of the African Wild Dog?
- The African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
- What is the African Wild Dog?
- The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), also known as cape hunting dog, African hunting dog, African painted dog, painted hunting dog or painted wolf, is a canid native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
- When is the best time to see African wild dogs?
- The denning season, roughly June to August, when a pack stays put at a den with pups instead of ranging across the whole reserve. Within the day, early morning and late afternoon, when they hunt. Wild dogs are the least predictable large carnivore in the country and a sighting is never guaranteed.
- Where can you see wild dogs in South Africa?
- The northern Kruger and the private reserves on its western boundary, Madikwe Game Reserve, and the Zululand reserves including Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and Phinda. Populations in fenced reserves are managed as one metapopulation, so packs move between them over time.
- Why are wild dogs endangered?
- They need very large ranges, which puts them in conflict with farming and traffic outside protected areas, and they are vulnerable to diseases carried by domestic dogs. Fewer than a few hundred survive in South Africa. Bookings at stays linked to the Endangered Wildlife Trust help fund the metapopulation programme that keeps the remaining packs viable.