Serengeti National Park
The key thing that I think we are forgetting in this discussion is the reliance on man. Domestic dogs are called "domestic" for a reason and wild is .. well wild. Big difference there.
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At one point or another, we've all seen documentories about the Serengeti. I saw one recently and eventhough it is not the first one I saw, I still could not believe how the animals that live there can survive these extreme harsh conditions, and of course most facinating to me was the packs of wild dogs and how they live and survive.
Now here is a fun question for you
... Do you think there is ANY breed of domesticated dogs that would survive in the Serengeti? Say you had to choose a breed (can be cross breeds), get a pack of 30 of these dogs, let them grow up up together in a similar environment to prepare them. Then by the time they reach 3 years of age, they will be dropped in the middle of the Serengeti. Would any breed be able to survive, adjust, and make it there new home?What breed would you pick if any????
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I do not think any dog could survive there.Besides the weather, Fires , floods you have bad ass snakes, Lions Cheetahs , Jaguars, wild dogs hyena's and croc's, I ean maybe a pack of grey wolves but even then when they go for a drink of water a 20 foot croc is not there to eat them.Just to many bad things
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Although I don't think any domesticated dog would be able to survive the Serengeti, if I had to put together a dog by crossing breeds, one thing for sure I would consider is size. Meaning 24 to 26 inches at shoulder, 55lbs to 75lbs is what I would go for.
Here are the breeds I'd put together:
- Catahoula (hunting abilities/nose)
- Black Mouth Cur (hunting abilities/nose)
- Spanish Alano (hunting abilities/jaw/toughness)
- Wolfhound (hunting abilities/coat/strong/lean)
- Ridgeback (hunting abilities/speed/lean/heat tolerence)
- Saluki (hunting abilities/speed/lean/heat tolerence)
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Remember Nick, wild dogs strive there...
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Yeah those wild dogs got a 1000 years of instinct on their side..but who really knows
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Good point Nick. Those dogs have many years of evolution to "teach" them how to survive. They know the dangers of the elements and other predators. They know where to sleep so they don't get eaten and most of all they have learned that they must work together to survive. They learn to do all this without learning to sit and roll over on command. I am with you in that taking a domesticated dog and dropping it in that environment would be like serving an easy dinner. If some pups were dropped in the area and adopted by the pack it would learn quickly the "rules of the game" or be culled by nature.
My thought is that the human interaction forces our dogs to be lulled into a sense of security and thus makes them unsuitable for the really wild world. Given time and total isolation from man - they could (and have) evolved both in morphology and temperament - ala Wild Dogs.
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Correct, however dogs are amazing at adapting super fast to all kinds of new situations, environments, weather, etc. For example, their natural instincts of alertness and protection comes out automatically at night fall, that is something I observed with my girl how she moves and behaves different at night. I think the "right" dogs will learn very fast the new dangers that are surrounding them if dropped in a hostile location, and will act accordingly. Many of them will not make it, but if half the pack does and has a chance to reproduce, the next generation will do better. After all, dogs are smart and great survivors.
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I just saw a young stray male LION get eaten by a pack of Hyena's..If you drop a litter of puppies off in a WELL FED pack of wild dogs they might adapt and survive but even wolves do not have that many predatory beasts in their natural setting.I do not think a small pack of 3 (name the dog) could survive more than a month
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Yeah, Hyenas are nasty and tough! Nick, I was talking about a pack of 30 dogs, not 3. We will never find out anyway, but it is intriging to me if they would have a chance. Again, dogs have been around for many, many, many years, and are great at adapting and surviving various challenges. If bread and prepared properly for 3 yerars, then dropped in the Serengeti, dogs that consist of Catahoula (hunting abilities/nose), Black Mouth Cur (hunting abilities/nose), Spanish Alano (hunting abilities/jaw/toughness), Wolfhound (hunting abilities/coat/strong/lean), Ridgeback (hunting abilities/speed/lean/heat tolerence), Saluki (hunting abilities/speed/lean/heat tolerence, will have the ability to hunt, and if they all work as a team to watch each others back, protect each other in packs against predators, and know when to lay low, hey one never knows, maybe they will be as successful as the wild dogs are...?
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probably any type of dog that closely resembles the wild dogs that are already there. Being raised there and learning life that way is much different then raising a dog somewhere else and then dropping it off in the Serengeti though.
Take some african wild dogs and drop them off in alaska or some other type of "wolf" enviroment and I doubt the would do very well either. However if those african dogs were raised in this "wolf" enviroment would stand a much better chance.
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The key thing that I think we are forgetting in this discussion is the reliance on man. Domestic dogs are called "domestic" for a reason and wild is .. well wild. Big difference there.
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yeah if you took one of these african wild dogs and it was raised as a pet in the USA...essentially domesticating it, and then dropped it off in africa once it was full grown, it probably wouldnt do too good either.
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One dog alone would not survive anything for a long period of time, but a pack of 30 dogs is a whole different story.
"cawkazn · Take some african wild dogs and drop them off in alaska or some other type of "wolf" enviroment and I doubt the would do very well either. However if those african dogs were raised in this "wolf" enviroment would stand a much better chance."
You have a point there, and this is why I mentioned to raise this pack of 30 dogs in an environment where they learn how to hunt and kill in order to eat. This is also why I would select to cross all the breeds I mentioned, since these breeds are all born hunters and have done the job for hundreds of years.
