Playground bully! Hyenas den up in road culverts and have their litter there. These guys were playing just outside it along the road.
Lycaon pictus is a canine found only in Africa, especially in savannahs and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf. Adults typically weigh 40–79 lb. A tall, lean animal, it stands about 30 in at the shoulder, with a head and body length of 30–56 in plus a tail of 12 to 18 in. Animals in southern Africa are generally larger than those in eastern or western Africa.These are the animals that killed the child at the Pittsburgh Zoo in November 2012.They look friendly but I almost had a run in with one on safari.I did a dumb thing and was sitting on the window edge of the safari van with my head and body stuck out taking some of these pictures.I looked down and one had snuck around the van and was ready to jump up and take a bite out of my butt.Needless to say I got my bod back into the van quickly.These animals are endangered.
