Dholes (Cuon alpinus)

[Panther]

(01-25-2019, 11:46 PM)Wolverine Wrote: Vegeta San (think this was your original name), I don't see a point for disagreement as long as nobody here said that pack of dholes has attacked and killed healthy male tigers in their prime. The numerous previous sourses not always point what exactly tigers were attacked - healthy or sick. By the way Karanth does not reject the fact that tigers could be attacked by dholes. Quite interestingly he openly admit his LIMITED experience with dholes saying: "My own LIMITED EXPERIENCE suggests that dholes may not instinctively chase tigers as they do leopards".... Actually Keneth Anderson for sure had much more experience than him. In biology sources are separated on 2 categories: reliable and not reliable. Authors like Jim Corbett and Keneth Anderson has always been categorized by biologists as highly reliable sources of information. If we suspect Jim Corbett and Keneth Anderson as "lyers" is not clear what we do here in this forum....

Reginald Innes Pocock, British zoologist:
"The evidence that these dogs may at times attack tigers is too cogent to be set aside."

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*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

William Blanford, a famous Britich naturalist admits in his monumentall work "Mammalia of Britich India and Ceylon":

"Throughout India there is general belief that these wild dogs hunt and kill tigers"

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author


Curently the world famous naturalist David Attenborough backed by his BBC scientist team says in the film "Tiger - Spy of the Jungles", minute 43:

"Red dogs once formed a large hunting packs. Today even a small family groups are rare sight. A large pack can even kill a tiger."

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author


Obviosly as pointed Peter, Rishi and Jimmy the size of the pack is decisive factor.

Ok, as was already admitted there are 2 "camps" among current biologists concerning tiger-dhole relations with sometimes mutually contradicting opinions - a "classical-traditional" camp and lets say "Karanth camp". In this interesting article from Guardian we read following symptomatic words:
"Researchers still debate if stories of dholes killing tigers are myth or truth."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...er-ignored
And if researchers are still debating this topic its clear that bloggers can hardly reach consensus

Neither of those names are my original. 

I never denied Kenneth Anderson's case. A large pack of 30-40 dholes (not sure) can injure and kill a adult tiger(of course, by losing some of their pack members), even after a long struggle. But only sick or injured tigers, which dholes get some confidence on chasing or killing it. Just like what V.Mazak said in his observation. 

And I think the logic of "why dholes do risk their lives against a healthy tiger" by Ullas karanth is meaningful. Canids are by far one of the smartest. Just like all other canids, they need numbers for survival... Reply