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WILD DOGS SENT TO MERSEYSIDE...

Twelve African Hunting Dogs,  also known as African Wild Dogs, Cape Hunting Dogs or Painted Dogs, are settling into their new home on Merseyside.

The dogs which are perfectly built for chasing prey, with light bodies, long legs and massive jaws, formed part of the breeding colony at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, near Hythe.

Visitors to Knowsley Safari Park, near Liverpool will  now be able to see the only breeding pack of the very rare dogs in the north west.

In the wild, the dogs roam over large areas of the grasslands and savanna plains of East Africa.

They are exclusively carnivorous, eating everything from rodents and hares up to medium-sized antelope and gazelle and in some cases even killing larger prey like wildebeest and zebra.

African Hunting Dogs live in packs of six to 20 animals and are led by a dominant (alpha) pair. Normally it is only this pair that breed, with litters averaging about 10 pups.

However, all the remaining,  mostly male, members of the pack help to raise the pups, babysitting and bringing food to the youngsters.

Safari park general manager, David Ross expects the dogs to breed at Knowsley, which is vitally important because of their endangered status in Africa.

In some parts of Africa they are now close to extinction and it is vitally important for other zoos and parks around the world to breed them in captivity.