#leonmolenaar

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[aduarte]

Royal Starling por Leon Molenaar Via Flickr: Found in the grasslands of East Africa but photographed in captivity at the game farm Boulders, Mica, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

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Red-backed Shrike, male by leendert3 Wild South Africa Kruger National Park https://flic.kr/p/2kPEh1e

[funnywildlife]

What's for dinner? by Leon Molenaar Via Flickr: Wild South Africa Kruger National Park I've been very fortunate the past year or so to have come across several packs of African Wild Dog, also known as The Painted Dog. The wild dog is South Africa’s most endangered carnivore and the second most endangered in Africa after the Ethiopian wolf. The current population of wild dogs in South Africa is estimated at less than 500. There survival depends greatly on their ability to stick together in close knit packs. They are intensely social animals, living most of the time in close association with each other. While a minimum of six dogs are necessary to successfully hunt and breed, a pack can be as small as a pair, or as large as thirty. Pack allegiance, such as pups getting first feed at a kill or members caring for the sick and injured, is an integral part of pack survival. The power structure within the pack resides in an alpha male and female pair, whose pups are nurtured by 'baby sitters', regardless of their mother. The alpha female selects a denning site, digging the spot by herself or with the help of other pack members, though she might choose an abandoned site, such as an aardvark hole. After a gestation period of 69-72 days, her pups are born black, with irregular white spots. Weighing in at around 11 ounces, the 10-11 pups in the litter are the offspring of the alpha female, although it's been known for other females within the pack to also have puppies. Weaned at around five weeks, they'll join the rest of the pack on hunts after six months. New packs are formed when same-sex siblings leave their group and join up with sub-groups of the opposite sex that have also left their group. Info obtained from several Internet articles

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