Fruit & Fruit Trees

For the first time, “hyper-carnivorous” African wild dogs have been recorded eating fruit, a behavior so far documented only in a small part of Botswana’s wildlife-rich Okavango Delta.

The wild dogs were seen picking up jackalberries, the fruit of the African ebony tree (Diospyros mespiliformis), with their teeth and swallowing them almost whole. Jackalberries are commonly eaten by jackals (Lupulella spp.), hence the name, but this is the first record of wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) consuming them.