Abstract:
The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) is an endangered exotic canid with less than 5500
animals remaining in the wild. Despite numerous strategies to conserve this species, numbers
of free-living animals are in decline. It is a highly social species with a complex pack
structure: separate male and female dominant hierarchies with, typically, participation of
subdominant adults in the rearing of the dominant breeding pairs’ pups. Basic reproductive
knowledge is largely missing in this species, with only limited information available
on the profile of reproductive hormones, based on non-invasive endocrine monitoring. The
dominant or alpha male and female are reproductively active and the subdominants are
generally reproductively suppressed. However, the occasional production of litters by subdominant
females and evidence of multiple paternity within litters suggests that fertility of
subordinates is not completely inhibited. In this respect, there are still considerable gaps in
our knowledge about the mechanisms governing reproduction and reproductive suppression
in African wild dogs, particularly the influence of dominance and pack structure on
both male and female fertility. Given concerns over the long-term survival of this species,
further research in this area is essential to provide valuable information for their captive
breeding and conservation. Reproductive information can also be applied to the development
of Assisted Reproductive Techniques for this species; the utility of which in African
wild dog conservation is also discussed.
