The African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus), also called painted dog, painted wolf, or Cape hunting dog, is a species of canid native to Southern and Eastern Africa. They are one of the most successful predators on the African savanna, and have a 80% kill rate, which is far more superior than the kill rate of other predators like the 25% kill rate of lions. However, they are highly afraid of lions, who will kill wild dogs because of predatory competition, since both of them go for the same prey. While wild dogs will steer clear of lions, they're more resistant to hyenas. They often try to steal wild dog's kills, but wild dogs often outnumber them, and despite their smaller size, they'll mob and surround a hyena, sometimes severely injuring it or even mobbing it to death. They'll often try to steal food from cheetahs and African leopards, and have been known to kill them as well when the pack is large enough. They're very aggressive to any carnivore coming too close to their den, as the den site must stay hidden at all costs. Even lone lionesses will be approached with less caution when around the den. They'll try to distract her and lure her away from the den. On rare occasions, they will mob a lioness. When fighting big cats, wild dogs will often jump up on their hind legs to look bigger and to get a better view of the cat in the tall grass. Male lions are avoided at all costs, and if a full grown male lion approaches the den, they'll make no attempt to save the pups and will flee instead, not wanting to mess with such a huge advosery.
Wild dogs prefer hunting during the day when the other predators are hunting at night, although they will hunt under the light of a full moon. They have incredible endurance and hunt as a pack to take down prey like gazelles, impalas, wildebeest, kudus, and the occasional zebra. They often have to eat quickly to avoid other predators stealing their kill. They will then regurgitate some meat for the pups and old dogs back at the den. The alpha female is the only one to have pups, and any pups from other dogs are killed. Each dog has their own coat pattern of black, white, and tan, so they can recognize each other.
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.