Kansas City Zoo to breed endangered African wild dogs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Kansas City Zoo is hoping a new effort will help save an endangered species of African wild dogs.

The zoo announced Tuesday that it had introduced two females African wild dogs from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, to its exhibit.

The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/2qpjimN) that until last month, the Kansas City Zoo had a male and a non-reproductive female of the species. The female was moved to the Rio Grande Zoo after a recommendation of the species survival plan. Two other females were sent to South Bend, Indiana, in 2015.

Wild dogs are often called painted dogs because of their mottled coat. They also have distinctive rounded ears.

A group called Painted Dog Conservation says only about 7,000 African wild dogs are left in Africa.