Wild dogs dying from climate change

Climate change is threatening the survival of African wild dogs. Rising temperatures have cut the endangered animals' hunting time and their pups' survival rate is plunging as a result.

By Dave Chambers

24 Jul 2017

A scientific paper published in the latest Journal of Animal Ecology is one of the first to show the effect of global warming on wildlife well adapted to heat.

Only 6600 African wild dogs survive in the wild. The adults leave their pups in dens when they hunt in the early morning and late evening, avoiding the worst heat of the day.

The scientists found rising temperatures in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Botswana cut the time the dogs were active, reducing the amount of meat they were able to regurgitate into the mouths of their young, endangering their survival.

In Botswana, the average number of pups that reached their first birthday fell by 35%, from 5.1 per litter between 1989 and 2000, to 3.3 between 2001 and 2012. The average temperature rose by 1.1°C between the periods.

The paper says: "It is shocking that even right on the equator these effects are being seen."

Source: The Times

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