Analysis of the microbial diversity in the fecal material of the critically endangered African wild dog, Lycaon pictus.

The African wild dog (AWD) (Lycaon pictus) is a critically endangered species. These animals are hypercarnivores, hunting mostly medium-sized antelope. In this study, using bacterial tag-encoded FLX-Titanium amplicon pyrosequencing (bTEFAP®), the microbiota in the fecal material of AWDs living in the Great Plains Zoo & Delbridge Museum of Natural History was investigated. In both samples, the most predominant bacterial phylum was the Firmicutes with members of the genus Blautia spp. being the most dominant bacteria.