Bush dogs, (Speothos venaticus), are small stocky carnivores of the family Canidae found in the forests and savannas of Central and South America. The bush dog has short legs and long hair and grows to a shoulder height of about 30 cm (12 inches). It is 58–75 cm long (22.8–29.5 inches), exclusive of its 13–15-cm (5.1–5.9-inch) tail. It weighs about 5–7 kg (11–15 pounds) and is brown with reddish or whitish forequarters and dark hindquarters and tail. Bush dogs hunt in packs and feed largely on rodents, though they appear to seek out agouti and armadillos in some parts of their range.
Unlike most other members of the dog family, which reproduce once per year, bush dogs can breed year-round. Up to six young are born after a gestation of 65–70 days, and females have been shown to produce litters at 238-day intervals in captivity. Whereas male bush dogs become sexually mature after one year, females can become sexually mature as soon as 10 months after birth. Bush dogs may live up to 10 years in captivity.
Bush dogs have been classified as a near threatened species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) since 2011. Ecologists note that, despite its extensive geographic range, the bush dog population is in decline because of an increasing rate of habitat loss and fragmentation—namely, from the conversion of natural areas to urban and agricultural land uses; declines in the bush dog’s prey populations, due to illegal poaching and to predation by domestic dogs; and increased exposure to diseases transmitted by such dogs.
