Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

[Sanju]

Close encounter between dholes and Indian gaur. Surprisingly the gaur left with no worries inspite of 15 to 20 pack of wild dogs next to it.
Picture from @prithivishekara

In the jungle, who is the bravest of them all? Is it the regal tiger, nonchalant in his manner, or the ever adaptive leopard, forever fearless in his ever changing world? Neither, for the Indian Dhole (wild dog), unperturbed in the midst of chaos, was the true king. These are the most intelligent and ruthless animals the jungle has to offer and on a warm afternoon, we watched a pack of dholes torment a herd of elephants. This image to me portrays their unruffled nature best as their focus lay on a herd of deer rather than the raging giants.
On assignment for @natgeowild.
Picture from @shaazjung

The chase between Dhole & sambar deer !! Picture from @xylophile_23

"The whistling hunters"

Dhole / Indian Wild Dog.
Picture from @shujath.mohammed

When love and care is all you need from your family!! .
Picture from @rantelpereira

Battle of Kabini

As we sat in the vehicle with the covers wrapped around us on a monsoon morning we heard the troop of Bonnet Macaques around us going hay wire. As we set out a little further to investigate the reason for their nervousness we saw an elephant herd of 10 females and 2 calves huddled down the road and something walking towards them at a distance on the game road. It was a pack of 13 Wild Dogs on a hunt who were scouring the jungle for prey. The Elephant herd had 2 tiny calves and because the pack size was quite big ,they were potential prey. Since I had seen this particular pack hunting on quite a few occasions, I knew their fearless nature will surely entice them to atleast give it a try for sure. The first thing they would try and do was to create chaos and try to separate the Calves from the adults. It was a tense moment for all of us.

Once the herd realised that the Dogs were around they formed an impenetrable wall by surrounding both the calves. While this was happening, one member of the herd (seen in the video) decided to take on the pack herself so that this could distract them and hence buy time for the herd to move away to safety. So she charged at them and started to kick the wet mud at each one of the Wild Dogs. She tried her best to get them, and during this time I was hoping against hope that she does not get close to them, as that would mean death for sure. Thankfully the pack was very nimble footed and managed to avoid the fury of the four ton pachyderm.

Realistically speaking there was very less chance of a hunt happening with quite a few adults there to protect them. If only the mother with the calf had been separated from the herd then there was a good possibility. Having said that , in the wild you never know when the tables can turn.

Video from @mithunhphotography

Wild dogs from the mystical land !! Did you know ?

Dholes usually weigh between 22 and 44 pounds and can reach 4.6 feet in length. Males are larger than females.

Color of the fur depends on the habitat (it provides camouflage). Dholes can be reddish brown, grey or beige in color. Inner part of the ears and chest are white. Tail is darker in color.

Unlike other members of the family of dogs, dholes have unique number of teeth. Their muzzle is thickset and equipped with only 40 teeth (other dogs have 42 teeth).

Dholes have large, round ears and excellent sense of hearing. Other than that, they use sense of smell to find the prey.

Dholes are famous for their communication skills. They produce variety of sounds: growls, whistles, screams and clucks to communicate with each other.

Dholes are carnivores (meat-eaters). Their diet mainly consists of various species of deer, wild boars, goats and wild cattle. They rarely hunt smaller animals such as rabbits, lizards and insects.

Dholes live in a group, called pack, composed of 5 to 12 members. Males are much more numerous. Certain groups may have only one female. Sometimes, dholes gather in large groups composed of up to 40 members.
Picture from @giricavale -

A pair of Wild Dogs also known as Dholes engage in some play in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

If you look closely you can see a healed wound across the body of the lower dhole, probably the remains of a snare, rope or fence that it was stuck in.
Picture From @angadachappaphotography

The fawn and his mother Sambar fought hard to keeps the dogs at bay. The young sambar survived the attack..!!!
Picture from @jayanth_sharma

Dhole Mating - Nagarahole Tiger Reserve .
Picture from @wandererover

When the Eyes tell a story !! A Bite to the neck is enough for small prey though Dhole don't go for neck nite!!!
Picture from @arun_s_k

It’s brutal but it’s nature and its a game that never ends ...Wilddogs of Nagarhole !!!
Picture from @sheshadri.vasan

The Show Stopper of the day is the Dhole from Nagarhole National Park !!
Picture from @riturajrahi

The Dhole (Indian Wild dogs) clan Live in small groups usually between 5 to 12 members but they can sometimes number up to 20.
Picture from @lifeline_wildlife Reply