Indian dhole, Eastern asiatic dhole, Chinese dhole, Southern dhole
The Ussuri dhole (Cuon alpinus alpinus ), also known as the Indian dhole, Eastern Asiatic dhole, Chinese dhole or southern dhole, is the nominate subspecies of the dhole native to East Asia. The Ussuri dhole is also native to China, however it is probably extinct in most of its ranges in China, as well as in Mongolia and the Russian Far East.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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OmnivoreAn omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CursorialA cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. chee...
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Pursuit predatorPursuit predation is a form of predation in which predators actively give chase to their prey, either solitarily or as a group. Pursuit predators r...
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Pack huntersA pack hunter or social predator is a predatory animal that hunts its prey by working together with other members of its species. Normally animals ...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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BurrowingA burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct ...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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MesopredatorA mesopredator is a medium-sized predator in the middle of a trophic level, which typically preys on smaller animals. When populations of apex pred...
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Highly socialHighly social animals are those which are highly interactive with other members of their species. They live in large groups, nest in colonies, and ...
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe Ussuri dhole is the largest subspecies of the dhole native to East Asia. It has a bright red coat and a narrow skull. It has a woolly winter coat, white underfur, and a larger mane during the cold season. On the other hand, the summer coat is coarser and leaner.
Ussuri dholes are found from South to Northeast Asia. They occur in India, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Thailand. They were believed to be extinct in Mongolia, Siberia, and Korea, though it is disputed that dholes persist in those countries. These animals inhabit forests, plains, grasslands, savannahs, steppes, and alpine tundra.
Dholes are highly social animals that live in clans rather than packs. Their clans frequently break into small packs of three to five animals, particularly during the spring season, as this is the optimal number for catching fawns. Dominant dholes are hard to identify, as they do not engage in dominance displays as wolves do, though other clan members will show submissive behavior toward them. Dholes are far less territorial than wolves, with pups from one clan often joining another without trouble once they become reproductively mature. Dholes live in complex dens that are typically located under dense scrub or on the banks of dry rivers or creeks. Some dens may have up to six entrances leading up to 30 meters (100 ft) of interconnecting tunnels. These "cities" may be developed over many generations of dholes, and are shared by the clan females when raising young together. Dholes are primarily diurnal hunters, hunting in the early hours of the morning. They rarely hunt nocturnally, except on moonlit nights. Dholes can chase their prey for many hours, however, most chases are short, lasting only 500 m (1,600 ft). To communicate with each other, dholes produce whistles, sometimes rendered as ‘coo-coo’. When attacking prey, they emit screaming ‘KaKaKaKAA’ sounds. Other sounds include whines (food soliciting), growls (warning), screams, chatterings (both of which are alarm calls), and yapping cries. In contrast to wolves, dholes do not howl or bark.
Dholes are omnivores. They feed on mammals such as chital, deer, wild boar, gaur, water buffaloes, banteng, cattle, nilgai, goats, Indian hares, Himalayan field rats, and langurs. They also eat fruit and vegetable matter more readily than other canids. In captivity, they eat various kinds of grasses, herbs, and leaves.
The breeding season of dholes varies with location. More than one female may den and rear their litters together in the same den. The gestation period lasts 60-63 days, with litter sizes averaging 4 to 6 pups. The young are suckled for at least 58 days and during this time, the pack feeds the mother at the den site. Once weaning begins, the adults of the clan will regurgitate food for the pups until they are old enough to join in hunting. They remain at the den site for 70-80 days. By the age of 6 months, pups accompany the adults on hunts and will assist in killing large prey such as sambar by the age of 8 months.
Dholes are listed as an endangered species due to low densities. In certain regions, these animals are mostly threatened by a lack of prey and habitat loss. Dholes are also vulnerable to diseases from areas where they share the same habitats with other canids like wolves and Eurasian golden jackals. Ussuri dholes may also be threatened by fellow apex predators such as tigers, leopards, wolves, Striped hyenas, and bears, and formerly by Asiatic lions and Asiatic cheetahs.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Ussuri dhole total population size. However, according to IUCN Red List, the total population size of the dhole species is 4,500-10,500 individuals, of which only 949-2,215 are mature individuals. Currently, the dhole species is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are decreasing.
