Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 May 2021 | 13(6): 18655–18659

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6415.13.6.18655-18659

#6415 | Received 15 July 2020 | Final received 08 October 2020 | Finally accepted 05 May 2021

 

 

Reappearance of Dhole Cuon alpinus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae) in Gujarat after 70 years

 

A.A. Kazi 1, D.N. Rabari 2, M.I. Dahya 3 & S. Lyngdoh 4

 

1 College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat 396450, India.

2,3 South Dangs Forest Division, Ahwa, Dang, Gujarat 394710, India.

4 Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India.

1aadilkazi@nau.in (corresponding author), 2dinesh.rabari@gmail.com, 3nawazd8@gmail.com, 4salvador@wii.gov.in

 

 

 

Editor: L.A.K. Singh, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.           Date of publication: 26 May 2021 (online & print)

 

Citation: Kazi, A.A., D.N. Rabari, M.I. Dahya & S. Lyngdoh (2021). Reappearance of Dhole Cuon alpinus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae) in Gujarat after 70 years.  Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(6): 18655–18659. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6415.13.6.18655-18659

 

Copyright: © Kazi et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: None.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Shri Jayveerendrasinhji Solanki for sharing valuable historic observations, M.J. Parmar and C.K. Sonwane, CCFs for their guidance and support, M.U. Jat and M.S. Desai for sharing their first physical sighting of 06 February 2020, Dileswar Nayak and Manoj Agrawal for help in GIS; Jigar Patel, Kiran Makwana, Abbas Bamsalam, Ramesh Mahla, Mulji Mahla, & Samir Shaikh for fieldwork, and Vivek Mehta & Kirti Bardhan for their inputs.

 

 

Dhole Cuon alpinus (Pallas, 1981) is a pack hunting, highly social canid and the only species of this genus (Pocock 1936; Cohen et al. 1978; Johnsingh 1982; Alfred 2000). Dholes are also known as Wild Dogs or Whistling Dogs, but the terms are misnomers since they are taxonomically more closely related to jackals than wolves and correctly termed as Dhole – the Asian origin term meaning recklessness and daring (Mivart 1890).  In the past, Dholes were the most widely spread canids in the oriental region, distributed from around 50oN and 70oE over the continental Asia (Pocock 1936; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott 1966; Johnsingh & Acharya 2013; Selvan et al. 2013).  Due to loss of forests and thereby the prey base (Gopi et al. 2010; FAO 2020), Dholes were extirpated from more than 75% of their global historic range with the remaining estimate of 949 to 2,215 individuals (Kamler et al. 2015).  Looking to this scattering trend, IUCN categorized Dholes from Vulnerable to Endangered (Kamler et al. 2015), and are placed in Schedule II of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, and in Appendix II of CITES (2019).

India lost around 60% of Dholes in the last 100 years (Karanth et al. 2010) and less than 1,500 individuals are left in Indian forests (Johnsingh & Acharya 2013; Kamler et al. 2015), surviving majorly in Western and Eastern Ghats, Terai, Kumaon, Himalayan region, northeastern states, and relatively larger population in central India (Srivastava & Singh 2003; Durbin et al. 2004; Iyengar et al. 2005; Jhala et al. 2008; Karanth et al. 2009; Gopi et al. 2010; Johnsingh & Acharya 2013; Kamler et al. 2015).  Although the population disappeared from former range (Johnsingh 1985; Kamler et al. 2015), the recent rediscoveries in newer areas have raised the hope in Sikkim (Bashir et al. 2014), western Himalaya (Pal et al. 2018), Tso Kar, Ladakh (Kamler et al. 2015), and in different parts of Nepal (Khatiwada et al. 2011; Thapa et al. 2013; Lamichhane et al. 2018; Yadav et al. 2019).  These discoveries indicate that the species is moving out to ensure fewer competition and less disturbance, which in future may foster resilience and expand its range.

In Gujarat, many claim to have sighted dhole in Dangs, Shoolparneshwar, Bharuch, Surat, Ratanmahal, and even in northern Gujarat (Singh 1998, 2001, 2013; Alfred 2000; GFD 2013; Kumar & Pathan 2016); however, no authentic evidence could ever be produced to ensure the certainty of the species in these areas, and therefore, the literatures endorsed Dhole as an exterminated species from Gujarat (Johnsingh 1985; Ginsberg & Macdonald 1990; Singh 1998, 2001, 2013; GFD 2013; Kumar & Pathan 2016).  In the Bharuch District Gazette (GoI 1961) Wild Dogs were reported from Dediapada, Sagbara, and Gora range.  The then Maharaja of Vansda State Shri Digveerendrasinhji Solanki states to have observed Dhole packs in Vansda National Park (VNP) in 1970 (Singh 2013).  Authentic sighting records from 1949 and 1970 are known, but without confirmed presence thereafter (Jayveerendrasinhji Solanki pers. comm. 2020).  In the middle of all the ambiguity on Dhole’s historic presence, the only reliable source is Digveerendrasinhji’s photo of 4 October 1949 from Vansda forest of present day Vansda National Park.  This is the only historic sighting record of Dhole from Gujarat (Image 1).

To confirm the presence of Dhole, from January–May 2020 camera traps were laid at 30 sampling locations in VNP along the select trails, waterpoints and crossings where Dhole movements were anticipated (Table 1).  GPS coordinates, elevation, and habitat type were recorded at each sampling location.  Camera trap photo/video captures were monitored on regular basis, at least once a week.  From 15,660 trap nights, we derived 34,206 photos and 481 videos, which included 149 photographs and 22 videos of Dhole.  The highest number of photographs (n= 132) and videos (n= 19) of Dhole were from Kevdi beat (L7) and Kala-amba beat of VNP (L11 and L19).  Through minimum convex polygon from 16 locations, the minimum home range of Dhole pack was 13.7km2 in VNP.  Minimum distance between Dhole’s current extent in central India and VNP is 367km (Figure 1).  We recorded 11 other mammals during the study and calculated their relative abundance index (RAI).  The maximum photographed species was Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta (RAI= 29.52), followed by Chital Axis axis (RAI= 25.52).  The minimum was for Indian Grey Mongoose Herpestes edwardsii (RAI= 0.05).  The RAI of Leopard and Dhole were 0.67 and 0.43, respectively (Figure 2).

Dhole prefers to live in tropical moist and dry deciduous forests (Kamler et al. 2015), avoid hunting in the same area for a long time and keep changing forest patches time to time to ensure hunting success (Venkataraman et al. 1995).  They are hypercarnivore (Van Valkenburgh 1991; Kamler et al. 2015) and their preferred prey is Chital Axis axis and Sambar Rusa unicolor (Cohen 1978; Johnsingh 1992; Karanth & Sunquist 1995; Venkataraman et al. 1995; Acharya 2007; Ramesh et al. 2012; Johnsingh & Acharya 2013; Selvan et al. 2013; Hayward et al. 2014; Dar & Khan 2016).  They have also been reported to prey on buffalo, birds, insects, lizards (Fox 1984), Mouse Deer (Kawanishi & Sunquist 2008; Dar & Khan 2016), Gaur, Mithun (Lyngdoh et al. 2014), sheep, goats (Sosnovskii 1967; Cohen et al. 1978), Wild Boar, hare (Dar & Khan 2016) and even plant matter such as grass, fruits, and leaves (Fox 1984; Gopi et al. 2010).  Depending upon prey biomass, interspecific competition and capture efficiency, the Dhole pack size varies from 2 to 40 individuals (Cohen 1978; Johnsingh 1982; Venkataraman et al. 1995; Johnsingh & Acharya 2013) with home range varying from 23–199 km2 (Johnsingh 1982; Venkataraman et al. 1995; Karanth & Sunquist 2000; Acharya 2007; Acharya et al. 2010; Kamler et al. 2015).  Southern Gujarat is the potential habitat for Dhole since it has 28.60% (5228.85km2) of moist deciduous forest distributed in seven districts with three protected areas covering 792.53km2 (Champian & Seth 1968; GoG 2019).

We confirm the reoccurrence of Dhole from Gujarat after 70 years in Vansda National Park.  We recommend concerted management efforts in the area to ensure long term survival and conservation of the species in the Park and initiation of scientific studies on species ecology and population for effective management and conservation planning.

 

 

Table 1. Details of camera trap locations to confirm the presence of Dhole Cuon alpinus in Vansda National Park (VNP) during January to May 2020.

 

Trap location Code

VNP Beat

Altitude (m)

Trap duration

No of  trap days

No.of photos

No.of videos

Activity

Sex

Other species captured

L1

Kevdi

139

II

45

3

1

Dr

M

LE, CH, CL, BD, WB, BPC, RM, GL

L2

Kevdi

141

I

15

1

-

Pa

UI

LE, CL, WB, SIC, BPC, RM

L3

Tadpada

160

I

15

-

-

-

-

CL, BD, WB, RM

L4

Tadpada

155

I

15

-

-

-

-

CL, BD, WB, RM

L5

Tadpada

156

I

15

-

-            

-

-

RM, GL

L6

Kevdi

145

I

15

1

-

Ru

-

LE, CH, CL, BD, WB, BPC, RM, GL

L7

Kevdi

144

II

45

25

14

Dr, Pa, Ru

M, F

LE, CH, CL, BD, WB, BPC, SIC, RM, GL

L8

Kevdi

151

I

15

2

-

Pa

UI

CL, BD, WB, BPC, SIC, RM, GL

L9

Tadpada

168

I

15

-

-                            

-

-

-

L10

Tadpada

167

I

15

-

-          

-

-

CL, BD, WB

L11

Kala-amba

173

II, V

56

27

3

Dr, Pa, Ru

M, F

LE, CH, CL, BD, WB, BPC, SIC, RM, GL, ICP, IGM

L12

Kala-amba

110

III

15

-

-

-

-

LE, CL, WB, SIC, RM

L13

Kala-amba

160

III

15

1

1

Ea

M

LE, CL, WB, SIC, RM

L14

Navtad

169

III

15

-

-

-

-

CL, WB, SIC, RM

L15

Navtad

187

III

15

-

-

-

-

CL, WB, SIC, RM

L16

Kevdi

136

III

15

1

-

Pa

UI

LE, CL, WB, SIC, RM, GL

L17

Kevdi

140

III

15

2

-

Pa

M

LE, CL, BD, WB

L18

Kevdi

132

III

15

1

-

Pa

UI

LE, CL, WB, SIC, RM, GL

L19

Kala-amba

163

II, V

56

80

2

Pa, Ru

M

LE, CL, WB, SIC, BPC, RM

L20

Kevdi

157

III

15

1

-

Pa

M

CL, WB, RM

L21

Navtad

143

IV

8

-

-       

-

-

RM, GL

L22

Kevdi

153

IV

8

1

-

Pa

UI

WB, RM, GL

L23

Kevdi

161

IV

8

1

-

Pa

UI

CL, WB

L24

Navtad

195

IV

8

-

-            

-

-

RM, GL

L25

Kala-amba

164

IV

8

1

-

Pa

F

CL, BD

L26

Kilad

118

IV

8

-

-

-

-

RM, GL

L27

Kilad

126

IV

8

-

-

-

-

CL, WB, SIC

L28

Navtad

156

IV

8

-

-

-

-

RM, GL

L29

Kala-amba

123

IV

8

-

-   

-

-

CL, WB, SIC, GL                     

L30

Kevdi

161

IV

8

1

1

Pa, Dr

M

RM, GL

I—30 January–14 February 2020 | II—30 January–14 March 2020 | III—15 February–1 March 2020 | IV—17–24 April 2020 | V—15–25 May 2020

Dr—Drinking | Pa—Passing by | Ru—Running | Ea—Eating | M—Male | F—Female | UI—Unidentified.

LE—Leopard Panthera pardus | CH—Chousingha Tetracerus quadricornis | CL—Chital Axis axis | BD—Barking Deer Muntiacus vaginalis | WB—Wild Boar Sus scrofa | SIC—Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica | BPC—Brown Palm Civet Paradoxurs jerdoni | RM—Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta | GL—Gray Langur Semnopithecus hypoleucos | ICP—Indian Crested Porcupine Hystrix indica | IGM—Indian Grey Mongoose Herpestes edwardsii.

 

For figures & images - - click here

 

References

 

Acharya, B.B. (2007). The Ecology of the Dhole or Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus) in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. Saurashtra University, Rajkot, 115pp.

Acharya, B.B., A. Johnsingh & K. Shankar (2010). Dhole telemetry studies in Pench Tiger Reserve, Central India pp. 69–78. In: Telemetry in Wildlife Science. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

Alfred, J.R.B. (ed.) (2000). State Fauna Series No. 8 Fauna of Gujarat (Part-1). Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, 464pp.

Bashir, T., T. Bhattacharya, K. Poudyal, M. Roy & S. Sathyakumar (2014). Precarious status of the Endangered Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in the high elevation Eastern Himalayan habitats of Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, Sikkim, India. Oryx 48(1): 125–132. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060531200049X

Champian, H.G. & S.K. Seth (1968). A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Government of India, Delhi, 404pp.

Cohen, J.A. (1978). Cuon alpinus. Mammalian Species 100: 1–3.

Cohen, J.A., M.W. Fox, A.J.T. Johnsingh & B.D. Barnett (1978). Food habits of the Dhole in south India. The Journal of Wildlife Management 42(4): 933. https://doi.org/10.2307/3800791

Dar, S.A. & J.A. Khan (2016). Food habits of dhole Cuon alpinus in tropical forests of southern India. Current Science 111(10): 1701–1705. https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v111/i10/1697-1701

Durbin, L.S., A. Venkataraman, S. Hedges & W. Duckworth (2004). Dhole Cuon alpinus. In: Sillero-Zubiri, C., M. Hoffmann & D.W. Macdonald (eds.). Canids: Foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs. Status survey and conservation action plan, IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, x+430pp.

Ellerman, J.R. & T.C.S. Morrison-Scott (1966). Checklist of Paleearctic and Indian 1758 to Mammals 1946 Second editon. British Museum (Natural history), London, 810pp.

FAO (2020). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020-Key findings. Rome.

Fox, M.W. (1984). The Whistling Hunters- Field Studies of the Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus). State University of New York Press, Albany, 150pp.

GFD (2013). Mammals of Gujarat. Gujarat Forest Department, Gandhinagar, 128pp.

Ginsberg, J.R. & D.W. Macdonald (1990). Foxes, Wolves, Jackals, and Dogs: An Action Plan for the Conservation of Canids. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

GoG (2019). Government of Gujarat, Gujarat Forest Statistics: 2018-19. Gandhinagar: Monitoring and Evaluation Wing, PCCF & HoFF, Gujarat State.

GoI (1961). Government of India, Gujarat State Gazetteers: Broach district. Ahmedabad: Govt. Printing, Stationary and Publications.

Gopi, G.V., S. Lyngdoh & K.M. Selvan (2010). Conserving the endangered Asiatic wild dog Cuon Alpinus in Western Arunachal Pradesh. Technical Report. UK: Rufford Small Grant Program, 54pp.

Hayward, M.W., S. Lyngdoh & B. Habib (2014). Diet and prey preferences of Dholes (Cuon alpinus): Dietary competition within Asia’s apex predator guild. Journal of Zoology 294(4): 255–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12171

Iyengar, A., V.N. Babu, S. Hedges, A.B. Venkataraman, N. Maclean & P.A. Morin (2005). Phylogeography, genetic structure, and diversity in the Dhole (Cuon alpinus). Molecular Ecology 14(8): 2281–2297. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02582.x

Jhala, Y.V., R. Gopal & Q. Qureshi (2008). Status of tigers, co-predators, and prey in India. National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 151pp.

Johnsingh, A.J.T. (1982). Reproduction and social behaviour of the Dhole, Cuon alpinus (Canidae). Journal of Zoology 198(4): 443–463. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.1982.198.4.443

Johnsingh, A.J.T. (1985). Distribution and status of Dhole Cuon alpinus Pallas, 1811 in South Asia. Mammalia 49(2): 203–208. https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.1985.49.2.203

Johnsingh, A.J.T. (1992). Prey selection in three large sympatric carnivores in Bandipur. Mammalia 56(4): 517–526. https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.1992.56.4.517

Johnsingh, A.J.T. & B. Acharya (2013). Asiatic Wild Dog, pp. 393–415. In: Johnsingh, A.J.T. & N. Manjrekar (eds.). Mammals of South Asia. Universities Press (India) Private Ltd, Hyderabad.

Kamler, J.F., N.J. Songsasen, A. Srivathsa, L. Sheng & K. Kunkel (2015). Dhole Cuon alpinus: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T5953A72477893, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Downloaded on 12 June 2020.

Karanth, K.K., J.D. Nichols, J.E. Hines, K.U. Karanth & N.L. Christensen (2009). Patterns and determinants of mammal species occurrence in India. Journal of Applied Ecology 46(6): 1189–1200. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01710.x

Karanth, K.K., J.D. Nichols, K.U. Karanth, J.E. Hines & N.L. Christensen (2010). The shrinking ark: Patterns of large mammal extinctions in India. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 277(1690): 1971–1979. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.0171

Karanth, K.U. & M.E. Sunquist (1995). Prey Selection by Tiger, Leopard and Dhole in Tropical Forests. Journal of Animal Ecology 64(4): 439. https://doi.org/10.2307/5647

Karanth, K.U. & M.E. Sunquist (2000). Behavioural correlates of predation by Tiger (Panthera tigris), Leopard (Panthera pardus) and Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Nagarahole, India. Journal of Zoology 250(2): 255–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb01076.x

Kawanishi, K. & M.E. Sunquist (2008). Food habits and activity patterns of the Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii) and Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in a primary rainforest of Peninsular Malaysia. Mammal Study 33(4): 173–177. https://doi.org/10.3106/1348-6160-33.4.173

Khatiwada, A.P., K. Awasthi, N.P. Gautam, S.R. Jnawali, N. Subedi & A. Aryal (2011). The Pack Hunter (Dhole): Received Little Scientific Attention. The Initiation 8–13.

Kumar, S. & M. Pathan (2016). The Shoolpaneshwar: God’s Own Sanctuary. R. R. Seth & Co. Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad, 128pp.

Lamichhane, S., A. Gurung, C.P. Pokheral, T. Rayamajhi, P. Gotame, P.R. Regmi & B.R. Lamichhane (2018). First record of the dhole Cuon alpinus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae) in Barandabhar Corridor Forest, Chitwan, Nepal. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(1): 11243–11244. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3533.10.1.11243-11244

Lyngdoh, S., G.V. Gopi, K.M. Selvan & B. Habib (2014). Effect of interactions among ethnic communities, livestock and Wild Dogs (Cuon alpinus) in Arunachal Pradesh, India. European Journal of Wildlife Research 60(5): 771–780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0846-8

Mivart, G. (1890). Dogs, Jackals, Wolves and Foxes: A Monograph of the Canidae. R. H. Porter and Dualu & Co., London, 216pp.

Pal, R., S. Thakur, S. Arya, T. Bhattacharya & S. Sathyakumar (2018). Recent records of Dhole (Cuon alpinus, Pallas 1811) in Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya, India. Mammalia 82(6): 614–617. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2017-0017

Pocock, R.I. (1936). The Asiatic Wild Dog or Dhole (Cuon javanicus). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 106(1): 33–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1936.tb02278.x

Ramesh, T., R. Kalle, K. Sankar & Q. Qureshi (2012). Dietary partitioning in sympatric large carnivores in a tropical forest of Western Ghats, India. Mammal Study 37(4): 313–321. https://doi.org/10.3106/041.037.0405

Selvan, K.M., G.G. Veeraswami & S.A. Hussain (2013). Dietary preference of the Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus). Mammalian Biology 78(6): 486–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2013.08.007

Singh, H.S. (1998). Wildlife of Gujarat. Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation, Gandhinagar, 123pp.

Singh, H.S. (2001). Natural Heritage of Gujarat. Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation, Gandhinagar, 262pp.

Singh, H.S. (2013). Mammals in Gujarat. Gujarat Biodiversity Board, Gandhinagar, 303pp.

Sosnovskii, I.P. (1967). Breeding the Red dog or dhole Cuon alpinus at Moscow Zoo. International Zoo Yearbook 7(1): 120–122. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1967.tb00344.x

Srivastava, S.S. & L.A.K. Singh (2003). Status of Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus) in Similipal and possible impacts of village dogs. Zoos’ Print XVIII(10): 18–21.

Thapa, K., M.J. Kelly, J.B. Karki & N. Subedi (2013). First camera trap record of pack hunting dholes in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Canid Biology and Conservation 16(2): 4–7.

Van Valkenburgh, B. (1991). Iterative evolution of hypercarnivory in canids (Mammalia: Carnivora): evolutionary interactions among sympatric predators. Paleobiology 17(4): 340–362. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0094837300010691

Venkataraman, A.B., R. Arumugam & R. Sukumar (1995). The foraging ecology of Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Mudumalai Sanctuary, southern India. Journal of Zoology 237(4): 543–561. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb05014.x

Yadav, S.K., B.R. Lamichhane, N. Subedi, R.K. Thapa, L.P. Poudyal & B.R. Dahal (2019). Dhole Cuon alpinus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae) rediscovered in Bardia National Park, Nepal. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(12): 14582–14586. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4714.11.12.14582-14586