Endangered puppy makes its first appearance

Carnivore keepers at Edinburgh Zoo have announced the birth of the Zoo’s first ever African hunting dog.

There are less than 5,500 hunting dogs in the wild so the birth of the new puppy is a great achievement for Edinburgh Zoo.

Darren McGarry, Head of Living Collections at Edinburgh Zoo said: “We are all really excited about the arrival of this puppy. Hunting dogs, like many other pack animals, are very difficult to breed successfully.”

“Although we don’t know its sex yet, this pup is proving to be a real bundle of attitude. It’s very bold for such a young age and we’ve often spotted it tugging along joints of meat that are twice its size. All of the dogs have been feeding it and it looks like an established member of the pack.”

Hunting dogs are declining in the wild due to habitat fragmentation and being heavily persecuted by farmers, despite rarely attacking livestock. Education and conservation breeding programmes like the one at Edinburgh Zoo remain crucial to saving this species from extinction.

Darren McGarry continued: “Most first time mothers can be very nervous, so we decided to close the enclosure to visitors in order to give Jet and her pup the best chance of a successful birth. Hunting dogs have a very intricate social hierarchy and if they feel threatened this can cause the mother to reject her pups.”

Keepers closed the hunting dog walkway in August as they suspected Jet, the pack’s non-dominant female, was pregnant but they have now reopened it to visitors.

The puppy will have its first health check and be sexed in two weeks’ time. The keepers will wait until its colours have come out properly to name it.

Image courtesy of the RZSS