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Animal Size

African wild dog size: How big do they get?

How big does a African wild dog get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:

A grown African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) reaches an average size of 92.4 cm (3′ 1″).

When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 11 years, they grow from 298 grams (0.66 lbs) to 22 kg (48.5 lbs). A African wild dog has 8 babies at once. The African wild dog (genus: Lycaon) is a member of the family Canidae.

As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.

The average adult size of a African wild dog is (3' 1

The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is a canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest indigenous canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus Lycaon, which is distinguished from Canis by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet, and a lack of dewclaws. It is estimated that about 6,600 adults including 1,400 mature individuals live in 39 subpopulations that are all threatened by habitat fragmentation, human persecution and outbreaks of diseases. As the largest subpopulation probably consists of less than 250 individuals, the African wild dog is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990.The African wild dog is a highly social animal, living in packs with separate dominance hierarchies for males and females. Uniquely among social carnivores, the females rather than the males disperse from the natal pack once sexually mature. The young are allowed to feed first on carcasses. The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of antelopes, which it catches by chasing them to exhaustion. Like other canids, the African wild dog regurgitates food for its young, but this action is also extended to adults, to the point of being central to their social life. Its natural enemies are lions and hyenas: the former will kill the canids where possible whilst hyenas are frequent kleptoparasites.Although not as prominent in African folklore or culture as other African carnivores, it has been respected in several hunter-gatherer societies, particularly those of the predynastic Egyptians and the San people.

Animals of the same family as a African wild dog

We found other animals of the Canidae family:

Animals with the same size as a African wild dog

Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as African wild dog:

Animals with the same litter size as a African wild dog

Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (8) as a African wild dog:

Animals with the same life expectancy as a African wild dog

Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a African wild dog:

Animals with the same weight as a African wild dog

As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Lycaon pictus: