THE DHOLE
MYSTERIOUS JUNGLE DEVIL

The Asian wild dog known as the dhole (Cuon Alpinus) is a fascinating species that inhabits the forests and grasslands of the Asian continent. Despite its remarkable social dynamics, the dhole remains one of the least studied carnivores in the animal kingdom.

The dhole is a mammal of the Canidae family distinguished from other wild dogs by its red color and dense coat. Its skull is large and massive, with a well-shaped sagittal crest and very developed masseter muscles compared to other species of canids, giving it an almost hyena-like appearance. It has a slender body and relatively short legs compared to its size, which makes it particularly swift in wooded areas and grasslands. This medium-sized Asian coyote has pointed ears, which are valuable for locating prey and communicating with its pack. Its thick fur can vary from pale golden yellow to dark reddish brown to grayish brown, depending on the region where it is located. It has amber-colored eyes and a bushy tail with a dark tip, most often black. Smaller than the wolf and jackal, the male dhole weighs on average between 15 and 20 kg, while the female weighs between 10 and 17 kg.

The dhole inhabits south and southeast Asia, from Pakistan in the west to China and Korea in the east. It is also found in Bhutan, India, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam. It prefers tropical and subtropical forest habitats as well as hills, grasslands, and scrubland. It likes open spaces and moves over large areas, adapting to a wide variety of environments. It is often found on roads, clearings, riverbeds, and jungle paths, where it rests during the day. Interestingly, there is strong evidence of ancient genetic mixing between the dhole and the African wild dog, a connection that some scientists theorize occurred in the Pleistocene when the species frequented the Middle East, at the gateway to North Africa.

Unlike other wild canids, the dhole has a unique social structure that is both complex and highly organized. It lives in packs of up to 40 individuals, although usually smaller. The pack is often led by a dominant male and female pair who have priority for breeding and food; other members include the previous and current year’s young, as well as older individuals who have left their original pack. Its means of expression are varied. It produces a hissing sound similar to the calls of red foxes, a kind of coo-coo, presumably to coordinate the pack, and a kakakaa call during attacks. It also moans to solicit food, growls for warnings, chatters in the form of alarm calls, and barks. Unlike wolves, it does not howl or bark.

This intelligent creature hunts mainly during the day, usually at first light, using very sophisticated cooperative tactics such as diversion or flanking that disorient the victim. Its prey include deer, sambar, muntjac, gaur, wild boars, water buffalos, goats, and even tigers, according to rumors. With a natural endurance, the dhole can hunt over long distances, moving at peak speeds of 50 km per hour, and even climbs trees to capture its prey. Its intellect is evident in its protective parental behavior towards its own and the most vulnerable.

In Buddhist mythology, the dhole is considered the guardian of the gates of hell. In Tibetan culture, it symbolizes loyalty and companionship. Asian art and literature feature paintings and poems about the dhole. On the capstone of the Bharhut stupa, dating from 100 BC, three dhole-like animals appear at the foot of a tree watching for a woman or spirit perched high above, a scene not unlike the painting Tiger Hunted by Indian Wild Dogs (1807) by the English artist Samuel Howitt, which is based on one of the earliest descriptions of the dhole by Thomas Williamson in the early 19th century. 

In India, the animal suffers from a bad reputation and has a profusion of pejorative names in Hindi: red devil, diabolic dog, jungle devil, or dog of Kali. The Nivkhes (or Gilyak) natives of Russia feared the animal – one of the reasons why the German Baltic naturalist, ethnologist and zoologist Leopold von Schrenck had difficulties collecting a specimen in the middle of the 19th century during his exploration of the Amur River.

On the European continent, many writings depict the canid. The Ostrogothic sagas of late antiquity describe it as the dog of hell. According to Charles Hamilton Smith, the dangerous wild canid mentioned by Scaliger, the scholar of Italian origin, would have lived in the forests of Montefalcone, in the province of Pisa, Italy, described as different from wolves by its habits, voice, and appearance. The coat of arms of the Montefalcone family includes a pair of red dogs. In France, it is related to the demonic dogs that inhabit the legendary forest of Broceliande and accompany Harlequin (Hellequin, or Herlequin), the black-faced emissary of the devil in the theatrical representations of Passions (or mystery) of the Middle Ages. It is also linked to the Mesnie Herlequin, the medieval French version of the Germanic Wild Hunt (Wütendes Heer or der Wilden Jagd), or the Wild Hunt in England. The dhole appears in Red Dog (1895), the seventh story in Rudyard Kipling's Second Jungle Book, where it is described as an aggressive, bloodthirsty animal that descends from the Deccan plateau into the Seeonee Hills inhabited by Mowgli and his adopted wolf pack.

Today, the dhole is considered an endangered species (EN) on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Little known to scientists and largely ignored by conservationists, the dhole faces widespread deforestation, habitat fragmentation, hunting, lack of prey, poisoning, and disease. The dhole is also in direct competition for resources with other carnivores, such as the tiger and leopard. Its existence is dwindling, despite encouraging signs in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park in northeast Laos, where an August 2020 study found that sympatric carnivores such as the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), the Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii), the marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata), and the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) manage to coexist relatively well with the dhole, despite a significant dietary overlap within the park. This coexistence is possible thanks to a temporal partitioning of the hunting areas and to the selection of prey (notably according to their size) to protect themselves from any cleptoparasitism.

Like large predators, the dhole is considered to be an “umbrella” and “keystone” species, an essential link in the food chain that radically influences the balance of its ecosystem. The study and monitoring of its population combined with a reinforcement of protection regulations are essential to its survival. On the Indochinese peninsula, these protections are manifested by decrees protecting the dhole from any form of hunting in Cambodia, a national recognition of its status as an endangered species in Vietnam, and field studies conducted in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park in Laos, where the animal is regularly captured by camera traps installed on trekking routes developed by the rangers.

These adventure modules directly benefit the local populations, including the Khmu, the indigenous people of Laos, and the preservation of the ecosystem. They can be integrated into a trip to northern Laos in combination with a visit to the fortress mountain of Phu Pha Thi, the Lima Site 85, a strategic summit during the Indochinese conflicts; the UNESCO royal city of Luang Prabang; and the enigmatic Plain of Jars in Phonsavan


© Illustration credit: Samuel Howitt
 

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