Talk:African Wild Dog

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Hi! the article on the African Wild Dog does not include its weight or height. Could you please include them?
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A fact from African Wild Dog appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 17 August 2007.
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[edit] Name Change

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was no consensus to move the page from African Wild Dog to African Hunting Dog, per the discussion below. Additionally, I have merged African Wild Dog name controversy into this article; that isn't in any way binding, and can be further discussed here if necessary. Dekimasuよ! 12:09, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I have heard from several sources that the prefered name is now African hunting dog. I think this is an attempt to improve their public image and also to avoid possible confussion with feral domestic dogs. Would there be any objections to a name change for the article? Steve Dufour 15:38, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

I have nominated it for a move. Please check out this search. Both Encyclopedia Britannica and Encarta call them African hunting dogs. Steve Dufour 01:39, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
You may be right and the name should stay for now. However in the future it seems that they will be called hunting dogs. Please consider the quality as well as the quantity of the references. Many of the newest and those of conservation groups working with the dogs themselves are getting away from "Wild Dog". Steve Dufour 04:09, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Comment Here is an article which explains the problems with "Wild Dog", although they advocate "Painted Dog" [1]. Steve Dufour 16:03, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Oppose. Perhaps this is the name preferred by conservation groups, but Wikipedia is not the place to attempt to improve their public image, however laudable this may be. Other encyclopedias are relevant but not the last word, as Britannica and Encarta (especially) have different naming conventions to ours. Andrewa 03:02, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Comment. I see that WP will probably not change this article's name. I have started an article about the controversy which I hope will be interesting to people concerned or interested in these animals: African Wild Dog name controversy Steve Dufour 15:04, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
  • comment - I reserve my opinion until I consult Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed., 2005) which is the most official source for common names, among other things. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:21, 14 August 2007 (UTC)oppose - MSW3 says African Wild Dog. - UtherSRG (talk) 19:21, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

[edit] Relatedness to dogs

Painted "dogs" are less closely related to domesticated dogs than grey wolves, coyotes or jackels. I can't find a date of how long ago they diverged or any good references though. But it should be mentioned in the article that they are not "dogs" any more than a jackal is. —Pengo 23:21, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. The Raccoon dog is even less closely related to the domestic dog, which is a subspecies of the grey wolf. The one genus Canis contains "dogs", "wolves", "coyotes", and "jackals"; all of which can interbreed with each other. If logic was being followed they would all be called wolves or dogs or whatever you like. BTW the raccoon dog is very cute. Steve Dufour 01:27, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
The genus Lycaon did probably branch from Canis some three million years ago, according to R. Conniff (1999) "Africa’s wild dogs." National Geographic 5:36-63. --83.108.104.71 09:29, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Correct Name

I grew up in Zimbabwe and it is always called the Hunting Dog there and elsewhere in Southern Africa. The name wild dog is usually used by visitors and tourists who are not normally familiar with it. I only once ever saw an individual as they have become much rarer over the last 25 years and difficult to find. I think the name of the article should be Hunting Dog - it is not a wild dog as that is the name of a dog that has no owner and is a possible carrier of rabies in Africa.--AssegaiAli 16:02, 10 November 2007 (UTC) la la la la

[edit] Weight

The weight range mentioned here is dubious. The source/reference mentioned for the weight of this species actually talks about Spotted Hyenas and not about the Hunting Dogs!

A spotted hyena can weigh much more than 36 kg.--Altaileopard (talk) 15:41, 4 March 2008 (UTC)
BBC ref I found gives same figures as currently in article - you're right though the citation goes to irrelevant page - I'll point to BBC page instead. Book I have here says 20-32kg which is inside same range so seems likely to be correct. -Hunting dog (talk) 21:37, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Gestation

The article currently gives the length of time between litters, which is quite interesting, but not the length of gestation. Is the latter known? Could it be added? Cheers, Lindsay 20:50, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

Various ref's say aprox 2 months - BBC site here [2] gives 69-72 days - "The New Encyclopedia of Animals" which I've got in paper form says 70 -73 days. In terms of what can be added to article I'd try to work in 'aprox. 70 days' citing those last two, unless anyone else can find better info/ref. -Hunting dog (talk) 21:29, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Subspecies

I know there are ref's to the fact that the sub-species theoretically exist in the Lycaon genus but is there actually any information about them? I've only found references generally to 'Lycaon Pictus', I haven't found any info on the sub-species so far.. -Hunting dog (talk) 21:56, 31 May 2008 (UTC)