The Bush Dog

Aug 02, 2009 Features / Columnists, Interesting Creatures in Guyana

In spite of its extensive range, the Bush Dog is very rare

The Bush Dog is a canid found in Central and South America, including Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru (West of the Andes), Ecuador, Suriname, French Guiana, Paraguay, northeast Argentina (Misiones province), Brazil and of course in Guyana.
In spite of its extensive range, it is very rare; it was originally discovered as fossils in Brazilian caves and thought to be extinct. It is the only species in its genus, Speothos.
The Bush Dog has soft long brownish-tan fur, with a lighter reddish tinge on the head, neck and back and a bushy tail. The underside is dark, sometimes with a lighter throat patch. Adults typically have 55–75 centimetres (cm) of head and body, plus 13 cm of tail, and weigh 5–7 kilogrammes (kg). Legs and snout are short relative to body length: the typical height is only 25–30 cm. The teeth are adapted for its carnivorous habits, and uniquely for an American canid, the dental formula is for a total of 40 teeth. The Bush Dog is one of three canid species with trenchant heel dentition, a unicuspid talonid on the lower carnassial molar that increases the cutting blade length.

It is a carnivore and hunts during the day, preferably in wet savannahs and tropical and equatorial forests. Its typical prey is the Paca (Cuniculus paca), a large rodent. Although it can hunt alone on occasion, the Bush Dog is usually found in small packs of up to 10–12 individuals, which can bring down much larger prey. It may be the most gregarious of the South American canid species. It is a good swimmer, due to its webbed feet.
They are known to utilise hollow logs and cavities such as armadillo burrows for shelter. Pack-mates keep in contact with frequent whines, perhaps because visibility is poor in the undergrowth where the animal typically hunts.

The gestation period is 63 days, and a litter can have up to six dark grey pups. Lactation lasts approximately eight weeks and a Bush Dog is sexually mature at one year and lives for about 10 years.
Listed as ‘Near Threatened’, as although the species occurs in a variety of habitats across a large range, it is nowhere abundant and occurs at very low densities. Currently, the population is estimated to number fewer than 15,000 mature individuals, and is thought likely to experience a continuing decline nearing 10 percent over the coming decade, largely as a result of ongoing habitat loss and degradation.
Bush Dogs are reported to be a habitat generalist by indigenous peoples, within the context of occurring generally near water sources, particularly small streams, and near available prey populations, especially Agouti paca. They have been observed in lowland (below 1,500 metres) forested habitats including primary and gallery forest, semi-deciduous forest, and seasonally flooded forest. In some cases, they have been observed several kilometres from forest habitat. The species is also occasionally reported from secondary forest, ranchland and fragmented cerrado ranchland. However, the only serious perceived threat is from habitat conversion and human encroachment.

But according to some researchers, the distribution of bush dogs should be re-evaluated. There are no population estimates or demographic data for bush dogs in any of their range countries. As such it has been noted that the understanding of dietary habits is based mostly on anecdotal information and does not address seasonal or geographic variation.
Habitat associations are not clearly understood as the species was once thought to be dependent on forests, but is now regularly observed in open habitats. The impact of disease, both historically and currently, is unclear (this is especially true for diseases introduced by domestic animals). Accepted ideas of behaviour and social structure, obtained from captive animals, have not yet been verified in wild populations. Moreover, inter-specific relationships with sympatric carnivores need to be further evaluated.
(Source- Wikipedia: The Free Online Encyclopedia)