Stats

Lifespan: 10-13 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Omnivore
Activity: Cathemeral
Social: Pack
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Worldwide
Movement: Running
Breeding: Live birth
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

An ancient livestock guardian breed from Anatolia, Turkey, with over 6,000 years of history protecting flocks from wolves and bears. Conservation programs in Namibia now deploy Anatolian Shepherds to guard livestock from cheetahs — dramatically reducing retaliatory killings of the wild cats.

Life cycle

1.
newborn pup
A blind newborn pup nurses and sleeps, completely dependent on its mother.
2.
juvenile
A weaned pup wrestles with littermates, learns its place in the pack, and starts eating meat.
3.
adolescent
An adolescent canid reaches near-adult size with long legs and a thinner coat, learning to hunt cooperatively.
4.
adult
Fully grown and hunting alongside the pack.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species: Canis familiaris