Dhole (Cuon alpinus)

Description

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Dhole fact file

• Description
• Biology
• Range
• Habitat
• Status
• Threats
• Conservation
• Find out more
• Glossary
• References
• Print factsheet

Dhole description

Dholes or Asian wild dogs are pack-living canids, although they are unique amongst this family in having a thickset muzzle and one less molar tooth on each side of the lower jaw ⁽⁴⁾. The bushy coat is usually a rusty red colour with white on the belly, chest and paws ⁽⁵⁾. Different subspecies exist and those in the northern parts of the dhole's range have lighter and longer hair than their southern relatives ⁽⁶⁾. The bushy tail is black and the pups are also born a sooty black colour before acquiring their adult coat at around three months of age ⁽⁴⁾. The large rounded ears are filled with white hair ⁽⁶⁾ and the eyes are amber ⁽⁵⁾. Males tend to be significantly larger in size than females ⁽⁶⁾. Dholes have a wide range of vocalisations including an extremely distinctive whistle that is used to reassemble pack members in the thick forest of their habitat ⁽⁵⁾.

Also known as

Asian wild dog.

French

Chien Sauvage D'Asie, Cuon D'Asie.

Spanish

Perro Salvaje Asiático.

Size

Length: 90 cm ⁽²⁾

Shoulder height: 50 cm ⁽²⁾

Tail length: 40 - 45 cm ⁽²⁾

Male weight: 15 - 20 kg ⁽²⁾

Female weight: 10 - 13 kg ⁽²⁾

Dhole biology

Dholes are highly social animals and they live and hunt in packs that closely resemble those of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) ⁽⁴⁾. These packs seem to consist of more males than females ⁽⁶⁾ and usually contain around 5 to 12 members, although groups of up to 40 have been observed on occasion ⁽⁵⁾. There is a strict hierarchy within the pack and the group will defend a territory that can be as large as 84 square kilometres depending on the availability of food ⁽⁶⁾; territories are marked by latrine sites at trail intersections ⁽⁴⁾. Usually only the dominant female will breed ⁽⁵⁾, giving birth to a litter of three to four young, or occasionally ten, after a two month gestation period ⁽²⁾. The mating season occurs from September to February ⁽²⁾. Pups are born in a den, which is usually the abandoned burrow of another animal, and all members of the pack help to care for the mother and her litter ⁽⁶⁾. Individuals feed the pups by regurgitating food for them, and will help to guard the den; when the pups are old enough to accompany the adults on hunting trips they are allowed to eat first at the kill ⁽⁴⁾.

Cooperating in a pack to hunt prey, dholes are capable of killing animals over ten times their own body weight in size ⁽⁵⁾. Their diet is almost wholly carnivorous, predominantly made up of medium-sized ungulates ⁽²⁾ such as spotted deer (Axis axis), sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) and wild sheep ⁽⁶⁾. Hunting in thick forest, dholes rely on scent to locate prey, occasionally jumping high into the air to get their bearings ⁽⁴⁾. Pack members either move forward in a line or stand guard on the edge of dense cover whilst other members flush out the prey ⁽⁴⁾. Dholes are capable swimmers and sometimes drive their prey into water ⁽⁵⁾. Like the African wild dog, these animals have acquired a vicious reputation due to the speed with which they eat, and their method of disembowelling prey before it is fully dead ⁽⁴⁾. Attacks on humans are, however, extremely rare ⁽⁴⁾.

Dhole range

Dholes previously ranged throughout the Indian subcontinent, north into Korea, China and eastern Russia and south through Malaysia and Indonesia reaching as far as Java ⁽²⁾. Today, information on dhole numbers is lacking but the range appears to be greatly reduced and remaining populations are isolated in fragments of former habitat ⁽⁵⁾. There are 11 subspecies of dhole and these vary in range with the most common being Cuon alpinus dukhunensis found in central and southern India ^{(5) (6)}.

Dhole habitat

Dholes are found in forested areas throughout their range from dense montane forest in Thailand to alpine areas in Russia, and thick scrub jungle in India ⁽²⁾. In general, factors such as prey and water availability, den sites and relatively open forest areas with grassy meadows (usually having high prey densities) are required to support dholes ⁽²⁾.

Dhole status

Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List ⁽¹⁾, and listed on Appendix II of CITES ⁽³⁾.

Dhole threats

Dhole numbers have been reduced as their habitat is being destroyed throughout much of the Asian continent; the human population explosion has led to the clearance of vast tracts of forest for timber and to make way for agriculture and development ⁽⁵⁾. Historically, hunters viewed dholes as competition and thus persecuted them; bounties were also offered for their pelts ⁽⁴⁾. Today, habitat loss and the elimination of prey species pose the greatest threats to the survival of the dhole ⁽⁴⁾. Diseases such as distemper and rabies, possibly spread by domestic dogs, are important threats to the Indian subspecies C. a. primaevus ⁽²⁾.

Dhole conservation

Dholes are protected throughout most of their range, in India they are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act of 1972 and hunting has also been prohibited in Russia since 1971 ⁽²⁾. In India and Nepal, dholes are protected within many tiger reserves and this has helped to keep their stronghold in southern India ⁽⁴⁾. More data is urgently needed on dhole distribution and numbers and the Dhole Conservation Programme is working to achieve this and to develop a Dhole Action Plan to safeguard the future of this remarkable canid ⁽⁵⁾.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Find out more

For more information on the dhole see:

• IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group:
  www.canids.org/species/Cuon_alpinus.htm

Authentication

Authenticated (10/6/03) by Dr Arun Venkataraman, IUCN Canid Specialist Group.

Glossary

Subspecies

A different race of a species, which is geographically separated from other populations of that species.

References

1. IUCN Red List (November, 2008)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group (November, 2002)
   http://www.canids.org/species/Cuon_alpinus.htm
3. CITES (November, 2002)
   http://www.cites.org
4. Macdonald, D.W. (2001) The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
5. Dhole Home Page (November, 2002)
   http://www.cuon.net/dholes
6. Lion Crusher's Domain (November, 2002)
   http://www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=14