Dhole Facts!

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dhole
Dhole by T_Monk cc2.0

Dhole Facts!

dhole
Dhole by T_Monk cc2.0

Dholes are a very athletic species of wild dog native to central and Southeast Asia, with a reputation as ferocious hunters. They cooperate well and hunt in packs, using sound (like whistling and even screaming) to communicate with each other, and a sharp sense of smell to track their prey. They are also skilled runners, jumpers and swimmers, and all of these abilities are used in the hunt. Sometimes they chase their prey into water to slow it down, and they’ve been known to bring down animals ten times their own size!

bandipur-dhole-chital
Dholes eating a chital they had just hunted. Image credit: Yathin S Krishnappa cc3.0

Once they successfully catch their food, they disembowel it (removing the entrails) even before the animal is completely dead. Then they eat it really fast, swallowing the food in very big pieces, each going through up to 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of meat in just 4 minutes!

Dhole pack
A pack of dholes. Image credit: jonas.lowgren cc2.0

The female dhole has the greatest number of teats (as many as sixteen) of any canid species. Her litter may contain up to twelve pups, and the other pack members help in taking care of them. The other members of the pack regurgitate their food to feed the mother and her pups. Young dholes join the main pack once they are old enough, and they are given first priority during meals. Dholes maintain a very large home range, so that they can find enough food to feed on. Due to the loss of habitat and prey species, dholes are currently an Endangered species.

Dholes are featured in the following books:
25 Top Predators in the World
101 Facts… Wild Dogs, Wolves and Foxes!




The YouTube video playlist below contains videos about Dholes. Details of the videos featured are underneath.

The Playlist:

  1. Wild Dog or Dhole (Cuon alpinus) Chassing Deer by Shirishkumar Patil
  2. Dholes whistle by 105km
  3. Dholes Steal Carcass from Large Wild Boar by reddhole

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