Wild Wednesday: Celebrating World African Painted Dog Day

Thursday is World African Painted Dog Day, so on this Wild Wednesday, the 6 in the Morning team celebrated the pack that can be found at the Tulsa Zoo.

The Painted Dog or African Wild dog is an endangered canine found in sub-Saharan Africa. They are matriarchal, as in the female leads the pack. A pack will have an alpha female and an alpha male, and the alpha female dictates where the pack is going to den up, where the pack is going to move to and when the pack is going to move.

Currently, trainers at the Tulsa Zoo are working with the painted dogs on an emergency recall. Through training, the dogs are learning to run off the exhibit and into the dog barn when an electronic coach's whistle is blown. The recall is handy for trainers in the event severe weather hits, or if something that should not be in their exhibit gets into their exhibit.