Houston Zoo

August 26 - African Painted Dogs

Earlier this week, we celebrated World African Painted Dog Day with our brother duo, Modo and Tamu! Their animal care team created a scent-sational enrichment experience with novel smells like orange peels. For painted dogs, scent enrichment is more than just something to sniff—it encourages natural behaviors like scent rolling. As social carnivores, painted dogs use scent marking to communicate throughout their territory and strengthen their social bonds. Every visit to the Houston Zoo helps support painted dog conservation in the wild. Tune in to this week’s replay to learn more about these endangered carnivores.