The Bad Dogs From The Jungle Book (204/268)

The Bad Dogs From The Jungle Book (204/268)

Some people might know the dhole (cuon alpinus) from Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book as "the red danger". These stories describe such a frightening animal that even an entire pack of wolves flees from the dholes' hunting ground.Even if Kipling does not strictly stick to the facts - wolves and dholes hardly ever meet in reality as their ranges do not overlap - this evil character in the Jungle Book reflects all the prejudices which almost resulted in the extinction of these wild relatives of the dogs also in other parts of the world. The dhole once was an often seen species in Russia, China, Malaysia and Indonesia. Nowadays, however, India is almost the only place where the dhole can still be found and even there it is endangered. Due to the fact that more than 4 million hectare of forest were clear cut in India during the past 20 years, the forester hardly finds a place to live anymore. Considered as a competitor in the hunt for game and afraid for their cattle, people kept relentlessly hunting or poisoning  the animals until only a short time ago. Dholes are utterly social-minded and cooperative animals that live and hunt in packs. Scientists have been monitoring these animals for many years in South India's Periyar National Park and discovered fascinating details in the social life of a dhole pack.

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