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Mouselemur — Covered In Flowers
#africa #african #artis #cape #dog #hunting #lycaon #painted #photography #wild #wolf #zoo #pictus
Published: 2018-12-17 15:00:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 1424; Favourites: 90; Downloads: 8
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When: June 18, 2018
Where: Natura ARTIS Magistra Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In case you didn't know: We love Wild Dogs, be they Asiatic (Dholes) or these African ones. They're immensely different but both beautiful - and not very common in zoos around here. To see either is always a pleasure, and to see African Wild Dogs awake is a real treat
The latter was the case during our visit to Artis; the large group was very active (food inside) and running around like crazy. They didn't remain in one place for long, and I had to contort myself in awkward position to get to some good spots where I noticed they'd linger a bit longer. Long enough for a photo. Like this pretty one
For a few moments there, we thought pups might be on the way, but the female can't have kids anymore and isn't allowed to, but she was showing signs of a pretend pregnancy. Pretty weird to witness that in real life, but amazing to see how they all acted because of it.
Species: African Wild or Painted Dog (Afrikaanse wilde hond)
Latin name: Lycaon Pictus
Originates from Africa.
Current status: Endangered.
Did you know:
…The African Wild Dog is known in Germany as “Picasso Hund”, another take on the Painted Dog, but sounding a lot more fun.
…They differ from their other Canid relatives in that they have four toes on their front feet, instead of five.
© Mouselemur’s Photography - Portegiesje
I love it when you love my work, but please, if you want to use it in any other medium, ask my permission first.
To see more Canid photos, check out my gallery
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Comments: 22
Stocky fellow! Why can't the female have pups? Is she too old, or something?
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African Wild Dogs are weirdly stocky; they have a special build that always gives them a thick belly.
She's older, but it's mostly than the EEP (Europena Endangeered Species Program) says she isn't allowed to have babies anymore. A lot of the other African Wild Dogs there are already her babies so it wouldn't be smart for her to breed with the others.
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Oh, I see! Yeah, inbreeding is best avoided whenever possible. At least if we wont to store a good gene pool for future generations.
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Exactly 
But then, there are some species that are still doing quite well even though their current population depends on maybe 10 ancestors - like Cheetahs.
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True, true.Still, I think some programs are doing a pretty good job to preserve a bit more variety. It is true that for species living in limited habitat,like Cheetas,or some Australian animals,interbreeding is less of a issue,since it's quite natural to them.
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Yes, that is true also. In some cases, it's really not much of an issue.
I've seen some animals that are the result of interbreeding (brother-sister kids, that sort of thing - never the intention, but still) and luckily the kids are all right. But if you keep doing it, I'm always afraid the kids might live a worse live for it because of all kinds of deficits.
I mean, have you seen some of the royals from the past? That interbreeding definitely caused some major problems
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It's an open secret that humans are always the worse for interbreeding Animals are a little bit more elastic, but sure, you can't keep doing it for too long. It is not safe. And definitely not something I want to see done in zoos and rescues and whatnot. It is sometimes useful for domesticated species, to fix some desirable trait (with dogs and horses it was the first step in creating different breeds), but you should know what you are doing and keep it within reasonable boundaries.
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Exactly this!
It shouldn't be done in purpose - especially not this day and age.
Too often, you see people wanting or trying to experiment and it leads to crazy results. And I can't help but wonder what kind of life the animals that have become a sort of victim, are leading due to this whim of their owner or whatever.
Today, I read about a research that says a certain plant can filter out certain stuff out of the air that could be harmful to people, especially kidsbecause they mixed the plants' DNA with that of rabbits 
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Those are experiments I'm suspicious of... I am not sure we have the knowledge to keep any possible side effect of such manipulation under control, yet. True, plants DNA are far simpler than humans', but still... Some could say that if we don't experiment further and further, we'll never get that knowledge, but I think some things are better left alone. Life is not a toy.
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That's what I'm afraid of, too. All those things that can be genetically manipulated. Sure, nice that it's brought good things but a lot of side-effects aren't easily foreseen and they're not going to put decades into checking for them... So who knows what we might end up with
As soon as genetics get atered to the point that it's not natural, some ethical part of even a scientist should say "no more".
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I agree. Sadly, it is very difficult to draw the line of that "no more". Boundaries are often left very murky by current legislation. Some scientists should read "The strange case of Dr Jekil and Mr Hyde" and "Frankenstein". Those books have one thing in common: a brilliant mind, a promising scientist, following his curiosity and will to do something good and great into an abyss. But ethics are so personal,it is a very sensitive subject everywhere.
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Thank you very much
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She is very pretty I love the detail on her body, very nice shot
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Thank you
The Painted Dogs here have very beautiful patterns
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