Summary

This map spatially describes the location and movement patterns of 3 Dholes from 3 different packs during a study in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.The study incorporated radio-telemetry techniques, which involves the trapping and fixing of radio collars on wild animals and monitoring their activities over prolonged periods of time.

Description

Spatial movements and ecological observations of 3 individual Dholes (2 females and a male), were documented by the identification of their radio-collar detection frequencies as Female 82, Female 44 and Male 77. This study aimed, among many other things, to conduct an estimate of home range sizes and spatial ecology of Dholes in the landscape, by identifying their locations and arriving at a Minimum Convex Polygon of their home range use.

Methodology of data generation

The study incorporated radio-telemetry techniques, which involves the capturing and deploying of radio collars on wild animals and monitoring their activities over prolonged periods of time. Radio telemetry therefore can help collect accurate data on movement patterns including dispersal and migration, habitat use, breeding and feeding. This was the first radio-tracking study on this species in India. Spatial movements and ecological observations of 3 individual Dholes (2 females and a male), were documented by the identification of their radio-transmitter frequencies as Female 82, Female 44 and Male 77.

Female 82 was collared at Karmajhiri on 20th July 2002. She was tracked throughout her travels in various parts of the reserve, until on December 5th 2002, she succumbed to wound infections, near Rayyarau, Pench TR.

Male 77 was collared on 25th August 2003 near Alikatta. He was single until 10th September, when he tried to associate with an already paired up female. The other male who was with the female was aggressive and kept trying to drive out male 77, but didn’t succeed until October 3rd, when he split up and went off alone. He stayed single until 15th October only, when he paired up with a female, and stayed with her until last recorded on 13th July 2004, a little to the south of his earlier range.

Female 44 was captured and collared on 16th March 2004, also near Karmajhiri. She was one of a pack of 14 Dholes, and was tracked until October 6th 2004, when her collar fell off. She and her pack were also intermittently located by the trackers later, but without using radio-telemetry.

Chronological movement of the tracked female dhole as seen on Google Earth. The white line is the boundary of  Pench National Park

Natural history

The Dhole (Cuon alpinus) is a wild canid found in South and South East Asia. It is also known as the Asiatic wild dog or the Indian wild dog. The geographical range of this species historically extended up to northern China in the north, and Malaysia and Indonesia in the South. Currently the best populations are found in Myanmar, Central and Southern India. Dholes are not acutely habitat-specific, but reside in dry and moist deciduous forests, and tropical rain forests, as well as dry-thorn and scrub forests. They are found in hilly and mountainous regions, but also like open spaces in the daytime, and can survive in wide range of climates. They are highly social animals, living in organized packs, with about five to twelve individuals, predominantly male. Probably the largest threats to Dholes today are the destruction of their habitat and human persecution. The dhole was declared a protected species under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, which prohibits their killing unless in self-defence.

Dhole Movement

Credit : Bhaskar Acharya

Dhole Radiocollar

Credit : Bhaskar Acharya

External Links

A few links to more information on dholes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhole

http://www.canids.org/cap/CANID8.pdf

http://www.cuon.net/dholes/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/152.shtml

http://thewildones.org/Animals/dhole.html

http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Cuon_alpinus/more_info.html

http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/5953/all

References

Johnsingh, A. J. T., B. B. Acharya, and A. B. Venkataraman. In press. Dhole. in A. J. T. Johnsingh and N. Manjrekar, editors. The Mammals of South Asia. Permanent Black, New Delhi.

Wozencraft, W. C. (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.

Venkataraman, A. B., and A. J. T. Johnsingh. 2004. The Behavioural Ecology of Dholes in India. Pages 323-335 in D. W. Macdonald and C. Sillero-Zubiri, editors. Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Johnsingh, A. J. T. 1997. Dhole, the Whistling Hunter of the Indian jungle. Pages 91-95 in P. Manfredi, editor. In Danger. Local Colour Private Limited in association with Ranthambhore Foundation.

Venkataraman, A. B., R. Arumugam, and R. Sukumar. 1995. The Foraging Ecology of Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Mudumalai Sanctuary, Southern India. Journal of Zoology 237:543-561.

Fox, Michael W 1984. The Whistling Hunters: Field Studies of the Asiatic Wild dog (Cuon alpinus). State University of New York Press, Albany. 150pp Davidar, E R C. 1975. Ecology and behaviour of the Dhole or Indian Wild Dog Cuon alpinus (Pallas). Pages 109-119 In: Fox, Michael W (ed.) The Wild Canids: Their systematics, behavioural ecology and evolution. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York. Mohr, C. 1947. Table of equivalent populations of North American small mammals. American Midland Naturalist 37:223-249.