DHOLES: CHARACTERISTICS, BEHAVIOR, HUNTING

DHOLES

dholes versus a tiger

Dholes (Cuon alpinus) are a kind of wild dog immortalized by Rudyard Kipling in "The Jungle Book". Also known a the red dogs of Asia, they are about the size of a coyote and look like a cross between or a fox and a dog or a coyote and a dingo. Kipling's characterized dholes as savage killers with "no manners” — a view shared by many Indians. Until recently they were treated as vermin and regarded as a threat to livestock and were killed by local people whenever the opportunity presented itself. [Source: Natural History, November 1999]

Dholes range from the Altai Mountains in Mongolia in the north and throughout China and extend southwards through the forest tracts of India, Myanmar (Burma), into the Malayan Archipelago. Three subspecies of dhole exist in India alone (Trans-Himalayan, Himalayan, and Peninsular). Dholes once ranged from Siberia to Sumatra. About 15,000 dholes remain in all of India, about a third of them live in southern India.

Dholes can survive in a variety of habitats: grasslands, dry forests, wet forests, dense forests, steppes, thick jungles, and hilly areas. They are almost never found in the open plains and deserts. They like open spaces and can often be found on jungle roads, river beds, jungle clearings, and paths, where they rest during the day. Their hunting range is about 40 square kilometers (15 square miles).[Source: Raquel Chacon, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Dholes can even thrive in cities. Even so their numbers are diminishing. They are endangered animals. Their numbers are unknown but have dropped dramatically in recent years, primarily as a result of loss of habitat, diseases and poaching of their prey. Even though the Indian Wildlife Act of 1972 made dholes a protected species in India they have been reduced to remnant populations even in areas where they are protected.

Dhole Characteristics

Dholes are about the size of a medium to large dog: with a head and body length of 90 centimeters (35 inches) and a 40-to-45-centimeter (16-18-inch) tail. They weigh 17 to 21 kilograms (37.44 to 46.26 pounds). They stand 50 centimeters (20 inches) at the shoulder. Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Males are larger than females. Males weigh up to 21 kilograms (46 pounds); females up to 17 kilograms (37 pounds). [Source: Raquel Chacon, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Dholes are usually a rusty red in color, with a pale underbelly and a black tail. Depending on the region, fur may vary from light brownish gray to a uniform red coat. A dhole is born with a sooty brown color, acquiring an adult color at three months of age.

What sets them apart from other canids is their unusually thick muzzle and one less molar tooth on each side of its lower jaw. Other members of the family Canidae have a total of 42 teeth. Dholes also have dark, almost always black, bushy tails. Their average lifespan in captivity is 16.0 years.

Dhole Behavior

Dholes are terricolous (live on the ground), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary), social (associates with others of its species; forms social groups), and have dominance hierarchies (ranking systems or pecking orders among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates). They sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell. /=[Source: Raquel Chacon, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Dholes are very social animals. They live in packs with seven to 25 members and are led, as is the case of wolves, by an Alpha male and Alpha female. They communicate with each other using unique whistling sounds. Like wolves, jackals and African wild dogs they defecate in communal latrines in fixed places.

Dholes interact with other dholes outside of their own group. According to Animal Diversity Web: They are similar to the African Wild Dog in that they engage in cooperative group hunting and group care of young. Dholes are very fond of water. After meals they race to a water site, and sometimes, if the water is near their kill, dholes will leave their food for a small drink of water. They have also been spotted sitting in shallow pools of water regardless of the temperature. Just as domestic dogs, dholes wag their tails. There is rarely any evidence of aggressiveness among pack members (except for the cubs, who like to play fight) and there is almost never any bullying. /=\

Dhole Hunting and Feeding

Dholes are omnivores (eat a variety of things, including plants and animals). Animal foods include mammals, reptiles, insects. Among the plant foods they eat are wild berries and fruit. Packs of dholes prey on mammals ranging from rodents to deer. Among their favorite prey are wild pigs, hares, wild goats and sheep. Occasionally they take monkeys. [Source: Raquel Chacon, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Dholes hunt in packs using tactic like those of African wild dogs and feed on animals much larger than themselves including antelope. Dholes chase down their prey, kill it and devour it one sitting and then move on to find more prey. A pack typically hunts over an area of 30 square miles. Hunting strategies vary with terrain and plant cover. The packs usually travel over the range and regularly visit places frequented by their prey. A high-pitched whistle is used to coordinate cooperative hunting.

dhole and sambar

In India, its main prey is chitral, or spotted deer. In Thailand they often feed on sambar deer. When pursuing these animals they attack from different directions and try to separate their prey — ideally young fawns — from the rest of the herd. Their attacks are often thwarted by the mothers of fawns.

Unlike many other "dogs," the dhole seldom kills by biting the throat. Larger mammals are attacked from the rear, while smaller ones are caught by any part of the bodies. The smaller mammals are killed by a swift blow to the head; the larger mammals are immediately disembowled. Dholes compete for the food, not by fighting, but by how fast they can eat. An adult dhole can eat up to four kilograms (8.8lbs) of meat in one hour. Two to three dholes can kill a 50 kilograms (110 pounds) deer in less than two minutes, and they begin to feed on it before it is dead. The larger prey rarely die from the attack itself, but from blood loss and shock as their intestines, heart, liver, and eyes are feasted upon. /=\

Dhole Mating, Reproduction and Offspring

Dholes are monogamous (have one mate at a time). They are also cooperative breeders (helpers provide assistance in raising young that are not their own). The number of offspring ranges from two to six, with the average litter having three or four pups. [Source: Raquel Chacon, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Each pack contains a dominant monogamous pair. Subordinate pack members help care for the young of the dominant pair. Dholes pair off during the mating season, a single week in September or October. Although there are several adult females the alpha female is the only one that does any mating. The Alpha male shows the most interests in her but other males may mount her.

The gestation period for dholes ranges from 60 to 63 days. The average weaning age is 58 days. On average males females reach sexual or reproductive maturity at one year of age. Pups are born throughout the end of fall, winter, and the first spring months (November — March). Female dhole can have up to 16 mammae, suggesting their ability to take care of large litters.

December is the denning month for dholes in southern India. Dens are constructed near streambeds or among rocks. Females dig their dens deep into the earth along the banks of dry streambeds. After a female dhole has given birth, a few other adults take part in feeding the mother as well as the pups. Beginning at around three weeks, the ups are fed regurgitated meat by their mother. /=\

While mothers remain in the den with the pups other members of the pack hunt, often bringing back meat for the mother. When the pups are one month old they are moved from the den to a cave. Then the mother begins hunting while older siblings watch over the pups. The pups are then fed regurgitated meat from all the pack members. Pups are preyed upon by jackals and leopards. When pups are six months old they join the pack on hunts. They usually don't make their first kill until they are around 1½ years old.

Dholes, Humans and Conservation

On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List dholes are listed as Endangered. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix II, which lists species not necessarily threatened with extinction now but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. [Source: Raquel Chacon, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

On rare occasions, dholes can attack livestock. But on the side of the equation dholes can be an indirect food source for the residents of the jungles. Dholes do not attack human beings, and they usually retreat at the sight of a person. Human residents of the jungle sometimes follow dholes when they are hunting. When the dhole completes its kill, the human hunters scare it away and steal its kill.

There are 10 subspecies of the dhole ranging in color and size. Two of the subspecies are listed as endangered by the IUCN: the East Asian dhole and West Indian dhole. Two other subspecies are on the verge of extinction (C.a. primaerus, and the C.a. laniger). /=\

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated January 2025