Basic behavior:

- Painted wolves are specialized as a pack hunter predator, targeting mostly antelopes as the main source of food ranging from Thomson's gazelle as the main prey item to Plains zebras on rare occasions. However, during migration periods, they will target wildebeest calves on the annual birth peak (February - March). It's also one of the most exclusive carnivores out there only eating antelopes and a small group of ungulate species even rarely consuming carrion and will only do so in desperate times, however, it is worth noting that will readily try to steal from other carnivores if the kill is relatively fresh. These animals are most active during the day, while almost completely inactive at night time, peak activity varies, having them being active in mornings and start of the afternoon and resting during midday and after dark preferably looking for wet or shaded spots during hot days and looking for thickets at night. It is worth noting that if night happens to be very bright that day, the pack will move and hunt as if it were daytime.

- Painted wolves are diurnal social and cooperative pack hunters, consisting of a breeding pair and non-breeding adults that assist in hunting and provisioning of a single litter of pups at a time. This tactic of survival will require the non-breeding adults as an essential part of raising the pups to maturity on a period of about a year, making painted wolves one the most efficient and successful carnivores in Africa. Their territories vary greatly in size depending on the availability of prey and they generally do not defend their territories from other packs, in fact,  these can overlap from 10% to 80%. However, it is worth noting packs are still aggressive towards each other and generally the larger pack will chase off the smaller one, which can lead to a loss of territory if one pack decides to take it.

- Painted wolves do have a gender-divided hierarchy in their packs, having the top of the separate hierarchy being one of the breeding pair individuals, this pecking order is defined by who can look the more submissive. Whenever pack members reunite or leave a period of inactivity, they will display active submissive behaviors, and members that have recently eaten may disgorge food during these scenes or share pieces of meat from a kill by having one individual begging to have it. To assert dominance members lower their heads much like when approaching prey, having it slowly move towards the individual targeted, meaning during these actively social scenes alphas will remain neutral to the entire group occasionally engaging in some licking and curling of the tail. If two individuals can't determine who is higher in the hierarchy both wolves will fight, rearing up until one falls to the ground and remains still and shrieks in defeat. Injured individuals will not be abandoned as most animals would but are actually helped and brought food if needed, however, they'll need to keep up with the pack and cannot expect pack members to return to their resting spot.

- Painted wolf packs can be founded, in the following ways. Lone females or sisters of the same natal pack will emigrate out of their packaging once they locate a band of marauding males near their general area during the rainy season (Otherwise they will not leave), males will leave their natal pack as well but never alone (3+ littermates at least to do so). Once located the females will try to find the male group,  the female(s) start to socialize with every male until the most dominant one chases away the other subordinate males and selects one or one of the females which will then trigger the females to fight for his attention amongst each other. Once the breeding female is established, both mates will scent mark together and fully establish themselves as a breeding pair.  

- Painted wolves do exhibit a preferred birthing season generally happening in the wet season (March-June.) When in heat the alpha male will remain by his partner's side chasing away any member who comes too close to her side and wherever she goes, he follows, occasionally resting his chin on her backside. The alpha female will locate and create a den site by excavating old burrows from warthogs, hyenas, and aardvarks. Once established the female will remain in the den preventing every member from entering it, until the pups are old enough to eat solid food that the pack will bring to them and her and occasionally changing den site location. Once the pups reach the juvenile stage the pack will leave the den site and may come back to it once the female is expecting again.

- Painted wolves are the second most successful carnivore in Africa on a hunting success rate right after cheetahs. So successful in fact that they can kill two times a day (Breakfast and dinner times). Much like hyenas, painted wolves test multiple groups of herbivores before selecting a target and generally target unfit ones obviously. Once located, they will slowly sneak up on prey as a unit with their ears flat, head and tail down, when suddenly all of them start cantering towards it (Doesn't matter if prey spotted you already).  Painted wolves will try to conserve their energy as much as possible by having a lead dog in front while having the rest of the pack loosely following behind, once the lead dogs tire the next dogs in line takes their place. This will lead the prey to slow down allowing the dog to bite and hold to subdue the prey to the ground, start eating it alive and sharing it peacefully. 
It is worth noting that different prey will force the dogs to adopt different strategies of pursuit hunting. Zebras will generally canter leading the dogs to canter as well, but if it or any prey decides to stand its ground the dogs will have to try and panic it again for it to run again or having dogs distract it by the front and others biting it from the back. While antelopes will generally sprint having the dogs just do their normal chasing pursuit strategies.

- Painted wolves do face a lot of competition as they are medium-sized carnivores, from Lions to Cheetahs. They do not fight adult lions, however, lone lionesses can be targetted by large packs. It is worth noting painted wolves can play dead when taken by big cats such as lions or leopards. Cheetahs and leopards generally do not put up much of a fight and will flee at the sight of a regular-sized pack. Hyenas almost being the dogs' nemesis and main competitor. Hyenas will wait and trail packs for a quick and easy meal and sometimes if the pack is small or not coordinated enough the pack may lose its quarry, however more often than not the pack chases the hyena off by circling or cornering and mobbing it. If a pack member is getting mobbed by a predator the pack will come to its rescue as long as said opponent isn't a large crocodile or an adult male lion.

- Like hyenas, painted wolves enjoy spending hot days in small pools or waterholes resting and playing in the water, unlike most carnivores if prey goes into deep water they can try and attack it in it though it is still risky and needs to be done with caution.