Dhole

About this species

Diet

Mainly deer and other hoofed mammals, hunted in packs

Habitat

Forest of many kinds, from dry and moist deciduous to evergreen and alpine; rarely open plains

Range

Most of India south of the Ganges, especially the central Indian highlands and the Western and Eastern Ghats; fragmented in the Himalaya and northwest

The dhole, or Asiatic wild dog, is a rusty-red canid, brightest in its winter coat, with a paler, yellowish throat, chest and belly, and whitish lower legs with dark bands on the front of the forelegs. It has a broad, heavy skull and powerful jaw muscles that give the face a slightly hyena-like look, and a shorter muzzle than most dogs. With its long back and slim legs it has been described as a mix of wolf and fox, or even as cat-like. Its most distinctive call is a whistle, rendered as coo-coo, used to keep the pack together in thick cover (Wikipedia, general species account).

Dholes are more social than wolves and less strictly ranked. Across the range they live in clans that often split into small hunting packs of three to five, and in India clans usually number 5 to 12, with groups of up to 40 reported. They are not very territorial: young animals can join another clan without trouble. Several females in one clan may breed and share a den. In India, mating takes place from mid-October to January. Packs hunt by chasing deer and other prey, calling with screaming chatters during the attack (Wikipedia, general species account).

India holds some of the most important dhole populations left. The species is thought to have lost about 82% of its original range, with an estimated 4,500–10,500 animals remaining worldwide, and India's populations are concentrated south of the Ganges in the Western Ghats and the forests of central India (Thinley et al. 2021, reviewing Srivathsa et al.). A study in the Western Ghats of Karnataka found dholes in about 41% of the area surveyed (Srivathsa et al. 2014, as reported by Thinley et al. 2021). Dholes have also been studied in the Pench–Kanha landscape of Madhya Pradesh (Srivathsa et al., as cited by Thinley et al. 2021).

Description: Wildlife of India guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)