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Litter Size

How many babies does a African wild dog have at once? (litter size)

How many baby African wild dogs are in a litter?

A African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) usually gives birth to around 8 babies.

Each of those little ones spend around 71 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 298 grams (0.66 lbs) and measure 1.2 meter (4′ 0″). They are a member of the Canidae family (genus: Lycaon). An adult African wild dog grows up to a size of 92.4 cm (3′ 1″).

To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.

The average litter size of a African wild dog is 8

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.

Other animals of the family Canidae

African wild dog is a member of the Canidae, as are these animals:

Animals that share a litter size with African wild dog

Those animals also give birth to 8 babies at once:

Animals that get as old as a African wild dog

Other animals that usually reach the age of 11 years:

Animals with the same weight as a African wild dog

What other animals weight around 22 kg (48.5 lbs)?

Animals with the same size as a African wild dog

Also reaching around 92.4 cm (3′ 1″) in size do these animals: