Deadly Beautiful: Vanishing Killers Of The Animal Kindom by Liana Joy Christensen

Author:Liana Joy Christensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction/General
ISBN: Deadly Beautiful
Publisher: Exisle Publishing
Published: 2009-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

6

PACK DRILL

Wolves, dingoes and coyotes

The hound slumbering by the hearth may seem the very essence of domestic bliss in a safe home secured from the tricksy coyote. This tame beast is the trusted domestic guardian. And although the wolf no longer turns up at most doors, the dog’s wild instincts sound the alert to other intruders. Such wild instincts are not so easily switched off, even after centuries of domestication. That’s why ‘man’s’ best friend is frequently ‘man’s’ worst enemy, at least among members of the Canidae clan. Each year dozens of children, and a smaller number of adults, die from domestic dog bites, according to international statistics (domestic cat bites are also a problem, but that’s another story). As always, numbers of cases go unreported, particularly in developing nations, which have a surfeit of death from all causes and a deficit of infrastructure for accurate record-keeping. However, since the addition of ‘E code 906.0’ to the International Classification of Diseases, dog bite fatality numbers in developed nations are clearly evident. Acquiring a specific code beyond the generic ‘Other’ is a sign in itself that death by dog bite registers as statistically significant. Still, the mortality figures are not particularly high. Reality really sinks its teeth in when you see the morbidity figures. For example, in the United States for each dog bite death there are estimates of close to 700 hospital admissions and 16,000 visits to emergency centres. This represents a huge amount of trauma, both mental and physical, and in extreme cases, permanent disfigurement.

Still, for many people it’s a case of ‘better the dog you know’. For that reason alone, it’s worth becoming a bit more familiar with the demonised wild species we are so wired to fear. Most people could easily list several of the domestic dog’s wilder cousins—wolves, dingoes, coyotes, foxes and jackals. Apart from aficionados of David Attenborough documentaries or the Discovery channel, fewer people are familiar with the less common species of wild dogs, such as the dhole, or Asiatic wild dog, and the remarkable African wild dog that has ears like twin satellite dishes and hearing to match. (Neither of the latter animals presents much of a threat to humans, although the reverse is far from true. Both are severely compromised due to direct and indirect human-caused factors).

All the animals listed above are classified in the family Canidae. In common parlance, these are frequently divided into two sub-groups: dogs and foxes. The taxonomic reality is far more complicated, but it’s a reasonable enough division for current purposes. Overall, the shadow cast by the wild dogs is far larger than the actual threat they present. Nonetheless, realistic information about the dangers brings perspective which in turn gives birth to respect.

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