Homepage Ralph Häussler |
|
Through this website you are able to link to other, external websites which are not under my control. These external sites are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only, hoping that they provide useful information on the protection and conservation of painted wolves. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. See disclaimer below for more information.
|
Find out more about the Painted Wolves aka African Wild Dogs
An absolute must are the two BBC documentaries by David Attenborough that discuss the Painted Wolf (African Wild Dog), 'The Hunt' and 'Dynasties':
And if you cannot watch the entire episode of Dynasties online, try the various clips you find on YouTube, like this one on the Painted Wolf cubs.
Dynasties is also available in other languages.
Die deutsche Version von David Attenboroughs 'Dynasties' wurde vom ARD als "WIlde Dynastien" ausgestrahlt (link). 'United to survive' is a great documentary by the Japanese TV station #NHK. This is the French version broadcasted by #France5: 'Lycaons, unis pour survivre'. // C'est un documentaire de France5 sur les lycaons / loups-peints
"The Lycaon, the Outlaws of the Savannah" is a one-hour documentary on the painted wolves / lycaons, produced in 1999 by France3. It follows researchers in Botswana and their observations of the painted wolves, studying their behaviour. And we see te work of vets, guides and local people to protect the lycaon pictus.
Ce documentaire sur les lycaons a été produit par France3 en 1999. Le Botswana est l'un des rares pays où subsistent des lycaons. On peut voir le comportements des lycaons, le travail des véterinaires, les rapports avec la population locale, etc. The following video is about help for the African wild dogs / painted wolves in Zimbabwe. It has been produced by the German public broadcaster "Deutsche Welle" in the series "Global Ideas". // Hilfe für die afrikanischen Wildhunde in Simbabwe: Video der Deutschen Welle //
"A dog's life" is a 2011 British documentary on the painted wolves by the well-known film director, Kim Wolhuter (click here to watch some 12 minutes on Vimeo; below link to German version on YouTube) // "Une vie de chien" (2011) est une documentaire sur les lyaons, réalisé par Kim Wolhuter. ARTE TV, 43 mins (cliquez ici pour résumé sur National Geographic). Ci-joint la versione allemande sur YouTube. // "Das Leben der Wildhunde" ist eine Dokumentation des Filmemachers Kim Wolhuter von 2011 - zu sehen auf ARTE und unten eine YouTube Version.
Interview with Kim Wolhuter about filming the African Wild Dogs for "A Dog's Life".
This German documentary is aimed at children and teenagers, "As Colourful as a Wild Dog", with the presenter visiting African wild dogs in Namibia. // Deutschle Dokumentation über die afrikanischen Wildhunde aus der Reihe "Anna und die wilden Tiere" // Dokumentation allemande sur les lycaons..
"Be the Creature" shows the brothers, Chris and Martin Kratt, following a pack of painted wolves in Botsvana (Okavango Region) (produced for the National Geographic Channel).
And now for a more disturbing video on the hidden trade (trafficking) of the enganged painted wolves.
More to come soon....!
|
Painted Wolf Documentaries and Behaviour // Documentaires et videos sur le comportement des lycaons, loups-peints // Videos über afrikanische WildhundeWe still no so little about them and they will soon be extinct if we don't do more to protect them.
It is not that people haven't tried to raise awareness of the often misunderstood Painted Wolves for at least half a century! Here a great documentary from the 1970s: "Wild Dogs of the Serengti" in the series 'Wild Kingdom' (nowadays the number of wild dogs in the Serengeti National Park have decreased considerably...)
This episode is part of the Classic US documentary series, Mutual of Omaha's 'Wild Kingdom' [channel]). Language & Communication
Language & Communication of the Painted Wolf // Sprache & Kommunikation des Afrikanischen Wildhunds // Communication des lycaons
Over the years, there has been some progress in understanding the extremely complex language of the African wild dogs. A study by Robbins (2000) showed 'a vocal repertoire consisting of 11 vocal classes and 18 subclasses was identified'. It consists of twitters, begging cries and rumbles that, for Robbins, are unique. He also shows that an integral part of painted wolf vocal communication consists of 'sound mixing', i.e. 'a succession or superimposition of noisy and harmonic sounds'.
But there is still more to discover, like in 2017 when it was discovered that the Lycaons vote whether or not to go hunting, and they do this by sneezing. Democratic Decisions among the Lycaons? // Demokratie bei den Afrikanischen Wildhunden
Indeed, research has shown that the painted wolves make collective decisions! They are highly sociable animals engaged in collective 'rituals', like greeting ceremonies as well as rallies before they go for a hunt. Research has now shown that they make a 'democratic' decision on whether to go for a hunt, or not. And the will of the dominant breeding pair (i.e. the parents) may be overturned by a sufficient quorum from the remaining family member. You need to have the sufficient number of sneezes to go to hunt. The research has also shown that the quorum is lower when the 'pack leaders' are suggesting to go hunting. Just amazing! How much more is there to discover!
If you want to read this up in an academic publication, have a look at this paper: R. H. Walker, A. J. King, W. McNutt and N. R. Jordan (2017) Sneeze to leave: African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) use variable quorum thresholds facilitated by sneezes in collective decisions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 20170347. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0347 (Great article: click here to access it). The data of their research paper can be found here: ibid. (2017) Data from: Sneeze to leave: African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) use variable quorum thresholds facilitated by sneezes in collective decisions. Dryad Digital Repository. (http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d6q6b) Google Scholar.
HOO CALL
Instead of howling, the African wild dog is 'hooing' to find far-away pack members. And another hoo call: here a lone painted wolf is searching for the rest of the pack...
Painted volf vocalisation: just squeeky sounds or a complex language...? We can categorize the different sounds. But can we decipher the meaning...?
|
My Painted Wolf Videos // Mes vidéos des lycaons // Meine afrikanischen Wildhund Videos
The 'Painted Wolf' or African Wild Dog is one of the most sociable canides. They live in large family groups and have a complex system of communication, like 'sneezing' as a form of voting!
This short video shows a sequence of interesting social interaction between the male painted wolves at @ZSL London Zoo. Among others, we witness the typical nose rubbing rituals between several wolves, and some dominance and submissive behaviour between them. For you to decide what rank each of the painted wolves has. Seen at @ZSL London Zoo in November 2019. And here the same group of seven male painted wolves in Janaury 2020: again, we can observe some interesting social interactions and a lot of communication: body posture, tail posture, the ears, licking, nose rubbing and vocalisations.
The question is: who is who? Who is the dominant male? Some clearly submissive wolves may be more easily recognisable. And some behaviour is also distinctively different from wolves/dogs. They are just so cute! Where? #ZSL London Zoo. When? January 2020 More videos on wolves and painted wolves on my personal YouTube channel: @WiseWolf.
Further Reading & Research on Painted Wolves aka African Wild/Hunting Dogs // Afrikanische Wildhund Bibliographie
Some further readings on the Painted Wolves.
For example some academic scholarship;
|