Dhole - The red devil (1/35)

Dhole - The red devil (1/35)

Once widespread throughout Russia, China, Malaysia and Indonesia, dholes are nowadays to be found almost only in India, and there, too, they are an extremely endangered species. In the last twenty years, in India alone, over four million hectares of woodland have been deforested, leaving very little space for the forest-dwellers. Until quite recently these animals were relentlessly hunted or poisoned since they were regarded as competition for coveted game such as the sambar deer and as killers of livestock. Red dogs or dholes are extremely social and co-operative animals, who live and hunt in the pack. In the Periyar National Park in southern India Arun Venkataraman has been observing the animals for years. He is one of the few researchers, who has come really close to the secret hunters, and he discovered incredibly fascinating details in the social life of a group of red dogs. All members of the pack take part in rearing the young - they are all willing to baby sit. They only hunt when they are hungry, and many other inhabitants of Periyar profit from the remnants of their prey. The film team spent some time with the shy animals in the jungle of Periyar.