The Dhole: India's Forgotten Apex Predator

A Personal Journey Beyond the Big Cats

 Avanish Dureha, Mentor at Wild By Nature

I'll admit it, I might be a bit judgmental, but I've noticed something about India's wildlife photography community: we're absolutely obsessed with tigers and leopards. Don't get me wrong, I love every moment I spend in our jungles, national parks, and on safaris. But my heart lies with the countless other magnificent creatures that call these forests home-the ones that often get overlooked in our quest for the perfect big cat shot.

Last year, I joined a wildlife expedition to Kabini in Karnataka. As expected, the entire group was tiger-crazy, and all anyone could talk about was "Blackie"-the famous melanistic leopard (black panther) who calls Kabini's Nagarhole National Park home. While they were all focused on this elusive cat, I had my sights set on a different apex predator entirely: the dhole (Cuon alpinus), also known as the Indian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, whistling dog, or red dog.

Meeting the Real Rulers of Nagarhole

The dhole is truly one of nature's most remarkable predators, yet it remains largely unknown to most wildlife enthusiasts. These incredible animals are about the size of a German Shepherd but carry themselves with a distinctly fox-like grace. The Kabini dholes I encountered sport a beautiful rust-red coat-likely adapted to their specific habitat-with striking lighter patches of white or yellowish tones adorning their throats, chests, bellies, and upper limbs.

What immediately struck me about dholes is how perfectly designed they are for their role as hypercarnivores. 

Their broad, domed skulls house shorter muzzles than most canids, and here's a fascinating detail: they have only two molars per side of their lower jaw, unlike the three found in other canids. This specialized dental structure makes them incredibly efficient meat-eaters. Their rounded ears and piercing amber eyes, combined with their slender, almost cat-like limbs, create a unique appearance that seems to blend the best traits of gray wolves and red foxes.

Ancient Legends and Modern Misconceptions

India's rich mythology embraces every creature, and the dhole holds a particularly dramatic place in our folklore. Unfortunately, it's not always flattering. These remarkable animals have earned fearsome nicknames like "red devil," "devil dog," "jungle devil," and "hound of Kali." Their reputation as relentless hunters has deep historical roots-you can find dhole-like creatures depicted in the Bharhut stupa from as early as 100 BC, shown chasing spirits or people up trees.

This fearsome reputation has persisted through the centuries, with several ethnic groups in India viewing dholes with superstition or outright fear. Even Rudyard Kipling contributed to this image in his "Red Dog" story from The Jungle Book, portraying them as aggressive creatures feared throughout the jungle.

But here's what I've learned from my time observing these animals: their reputation is both deserved and misunderstood. Yes, they're incredibly effective predators, but they're also highly social, cooperative, and surprisingly gentle with their own kind.

The Social Fabric of Dhole Society

Watching a dhole pack in action is like witnessing a masterclass in cooperation. These animals live in packs ranging from 2 to 20 individuals, sometimes even more. What fascinated me most was discovering that dholes don't follow the strict dominance hierarchies we see in other pack animals. Instead, their society is built on cooperation and genuine affection-I've watched them play together, nuzzle each other, and engage in face-licking sessions that seem more like family bonding than dominance displays.

Unlike many other canids, multiple females in a dhole pack can breed, which speaks to their remarkably egalitarian social structure.

The Language of the Pack

One of the most captivating aspects of dholes is their complex communication system. These are incredibly vocal animals, and spending time with them is like listening to an ongoing conversation in a language you almost understand. They use whistles, chattering, clucking, and various other sounds to coordinate hunts and maintain pack cohesion in dense forests. Their distinctive whistling call is so characteristic that "whistling dogs" has become one of their common names.

Masters of the Hunt

Dholes are diurnal hunters, meaning they're active during the day-perfect for wildlife photographers like me who prefer not to stumble around in the dark! I've been privileged to observe their hunting strategies, and it's absolutely mesmerizing. They target medium to large-sized ungulates like deer and wild boar, and occasionally take on even larger prey like gaur calves.

What sets dhole hunts apart is their incredible coordination. The pack works like a well-trained tactical unit, encircling and harassing their prey, often driving it toward water to exhaust it. During one memorable observation, I watched the pack leader communicate orders through whistling sounds, and the entire pack responded like a synchronized fighting unit-no chaos, no confusion, just pure efficiency.

Once they make a kill, the feeding process is remarkably organized. They begin eating quickly, sometimes even before the prey is fully subdued, but what impressed me most was their approach to food sharing. This is truly communal dining at its finest: pups get priority access to kills, adults regurgitate food for both pups and nursing females, and infighting at kills is extremely rare. The tolerance they show each other during feeding is something that would make many human families envious.

A Voice Unlike Any Other

Here's something that really distinguishes dholes from their canid cousins: I have never heard a dhole bark or howl. This silence sets them apart dramatically from domestic dogs and wolves, making their whistling communication system even more remarkable and unique.

The Conservation Challenge

As I reflect on my experiences with these incredible animals, I can't help but feel a sense of urgency. Dholes are classified as endangered, and their populations continue to decline across Central, South, and Southeast Asia. While everyone's attention remains focused on tigers and leopards-both important conservation priorities-we're overlooking one of nature's most sophisticated social predators.

My time in Kabini taught me that there's so much more to discover in our forests beyond the big cats that dominate our wildlife photography feeds. The dhole represents everything I love about wildlife observation: complex behavior, intricate social structures, and adaptation strategies honed over millennia.

Perhaps it's time for India's wildlife community to expand our definition of "apex predator" photography. The dholes are waiting, whistling their ancient songs in the forests, ready to share their stories with anyone willing to listen.

The author is a wildlife photographer and naturalist with a passion for documenting the world around him as also lesser-known predators and their complex social behaviors.