Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 22 2008 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi all,

I’ve had a request in the comments section from Emma for some information on wild dog measurements, specifically weights and sizes etc, so this post is going to be a factual one…

Adult wild dogs can weigh between 17-36 kilograms (37-79 pounds). Average weight in southern Africa is about 25kgs. Emma – we haven’t yet got the weighing scales we need to weigh the dogs accurately when we have them immobilised, but the few we have done ranged between 23.5kg (a fairly young adult female) to 27kg (an older male).

Wild dogs are fairly tall and slim animals; they stand about 75cm at the shoulder (the ones we have measured are between 70 and 78cm), and head and body length (excluding the tail) is on average 100cm. The tail is about 30-40cm. Our girth measurements of immobilised dogs (just behind the front legs) are between 63 and 68cm.

Hope that answers your question regarding weights and measures Emma. As for litter sizes, we have litters (with one mother) ranging from only 2 pups to 14 pups. The litter sizes we know about from all the females are 14; 6; 6; 6; 4 and 2. According to the literature, average litter size is around 10. Some of the smaller litters are from subordinate females breeding in the same pack as the alpha female, or from first time mums.

Please everyone feel free to ask if you want any specific info like this – I’m always happy to let you know or find out for you if I don’t know!

Rosemary