​ENDANGERED
Endangered Animal
Dhole
Appearance
The Dhole (pronounced dole) is a canine. It resembles a mix between a Red Fox and African Wild Dog and is reffered to being cat-like, due to its long limbs and slim backbone. They are smaller than African wild dogsWith weights ranging from 10 to 25 kg, with males averaging about 4.5 kg heavier than females. This dog is 88 to 113 cm (35 to 44 inches) long from the snout to the base of the tail, with the tail averaging 45 cm (18 inches) in length. Shoulder height is approximatly 42 to 55 cm (17 to 22 inches). And like African wild dogs, their ears are rounded rather than pointed. Dholes' snouts are noticably shorter than that of some other cainines. Their colour is almost like that of a Red Fox and in winter the hues brighten in colour.
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Habitat
Dholes habitat once ranged over most of South, East and Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, South and North Korea, India,
Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Russia.
The only know habitiats are the red sections
on the map (right) and the green section is the
possible range. Dholes have not been reported
recently in Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Dholes are now
known to live in Indonesia, Thialand, India, in
2006 they were seen in China's Jiangxi Province,
Bangladesh, Loas, Myanmar, Cambodia and
some smaller surrounding countries. The
weather in the Dholes habitat ranges from hot
to cold and wet to dry.
​Behaviours
Dholes are known to be more social than wolves and their heiarchy isn't as obvious as wolves, as they rarley display acts of dominance. Groups of Dholes are reffered to as clans insted of packs and their clans consist of 5-12 individuals, although there have been reports fom India of Dhole clans reaching 40. Dholes are very passive canines and rarley fight. Dholes maily rely on their clans to protects them, strenght in numbers and all that. They have been known to take down tigers and leopards. Dholes sometimes hunt and eat alongside wolves and Golden Jackals.
Young
Dhole pups are cared for by the whole clan and there are always several litters averaging 4-6 pups from several different female Dholes, much unlike wolves where only the lead female gives birth, the whole Dhole clan wil get involved. The pups stay in the den with their mother until the weaning begins at around 40-60 days. Once this happens the mother will leave the den and other Dholes will help take care of the pups while she hunts. When the pups reach 6 months they will being to join in hunts and other caln activites.
Diet
Prey animals in India include chital, sambar, muntjac, mouse deer, swamp deer, wild boar, gaur, water buffalo, banteng, cattle, nilgai, goats, Indian hares, Himalayan field rats and langur mokeys. There is one record of a pack bringing down an Indian elephant calf in Assam, despite desperate defense of the mother resulting in numerous losses to the pack. In Kashmir, they may hunt markhor, and thamin in Burma. Javan rusas are hunted in Java. In the Tien Shan andTarbagatai Mountains, dholes prey on Siberian ibexes, arkhar, roe deer, maral and wild boar. In the Altai and Sayan Mountains, they prey on musk deer and reindeer. In eastern Siberia, they prey on roe deer, Wild boar, Manchurian wapiti, musk deer, and reindeer, while in Primorye they feed onsika deer and goral, too. In Mongolia, they prey on argali and rarely Siberian ibex. The Dholes also eat fruit and vegetables quite eagerly, unlike many other cainines. In captivity, they eat various kinds of grasses, herbs and leaves, seemingly for pleasure rather than just when ill. When the summertime in the Tien Shan Mountains comes around, dholes eat large amounts of mountain rhubarb.
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Cause for Loss of Numbers
Dholes were huinted and killed throughout India for bounties until they were given protection by the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. When hunting a Dhole the mthods used included poisoning, snaring, shooting and clubbing at den sites. Indian people killed dholes primarily to protect livestock, while British sporthunters did so under the opinion that dholes were responsible for drops in game populations. Why did this animal species become endangered? Is anything being done to help them survive?
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Action
Main threats to the species include ongoing habitat loss, lack of prey, competition for food and space from other wild predators, persecution by humans and probably disease transfer from domestic dogs. Lack of prey appears to be a key problem in Lao, Cambodia and Vietnam where many large ungulates species have been reduced to low numbers. Additionally large tracts of natural wilderness have become rare in many southern Asian countries where dholes were once found. Persecution of the species also still occurs throughout much of its range too. For example, during one radio-tracking study in Central India in 2000, 16 of the 24 dholes in one pack died suddenly from strychnine poisoning. Many breeding programs are occuring throught Asia to increase the Dhole's numbers. Although their summer coats are not sold on the blck market, Dhole's winter coats are extremely thick, soft and highly priced. Although Dhole poaching is rare it it still a running factor in their possible extinction. India and China have various and extremely strict laws placed to stop poaching and almost half of the remaining Dholes live in large game reserves and protected ranges.
