John McNutt, known as Tico McNutt, started the Wild Dog Research Projec

in 1989. His research in that field has been supported in part by the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

. He received a doctorate in animal behavior from the University of California in 1995. At the time, he founded the Botswana Wild Dog Research Project as little was known about the biology of the African wild dog (''

Lycaon pictus The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called painted dog and Cape hunting dog, is a wild Caninae, canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only Neontology#Extant taxa versus extinct taxa, ex ...

''), though it was believed to be one of the most endangered

canine Canine may refer to: Zoology and anatomy * Animals of the family Canidae, more specifically the subfamily Caninae, which includes dogs, wolves, foxes, jackals and coyotes ** ''Canis'', a genus that includes dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals ** Do ...

species. Since then, Tico has followed many wild dog packs in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

’s

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta or Okavango Grassland is a vast inland delta in Botswana formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an elevation of in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari Desert. It is a UNESCO Wor ...

, eventually expanding his studies to include all major

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s in the region. McNutt is co-author of the book ''Running Wild: Dispelling the Myths of the African Wild Dog''

References

External links

Why do African wild dogs travel in packs?
article for BBC Wildlife Magazine by McNutt {{DEFAULTSORT:McNutt, Tico Living people American conservationists Year of birth missing (living people)