S.P.E.C.I.E.S., through its Western Ghats Conservation Project, is working to conserve the dhole in India. But they are known to use many different ways of communicating and make use of a highly distinctive whistle as a way of gathering their pack in the forest areas they call home. They are understudied and largely unknown, even in the conservation world. There are between 4,500 вЂ“ 10,500 dholes in the wild only around 2,000 of these are mature individuals capable of breeding. Dholes are sometimes killed by tigers, and historical reports suggest that tigers have been killed by dholes, although this has never been confirmed. Tiny in comparison to the tiger, the dholes skip lithely away and appear to come back to pester it. In this video you can watch as a tiger attacks a pack of dholes.

Dholes do not suffocate their prey with a vice-like grip like tigers do, rather they take bites, bring it down, and begin eating immediately, often while their prey is still alive. Scouts will lead the way while the main pack follows up and takes down the prey. Living in places that are inhabited by bigger, stronger predators such as tigers and leopards, the dhole has come to hunt effectively as a pack. They are pack animals and hunt prey in groups of five to ten, although their numbers were said to reach beyond 50 in the past.ДЄdultsвЂ™ coats are a reddish-brown colour with a bushy, black tail, while their pups are born a dusty black colour, taking the colour of their parents once they are three months old. Photo by Ozzy Delaney, Flickr CC.Дespite their diminutive size, dholes are smaller than medium-sized dogs, they can take down prey that is up to 50 times their weight, such as samba deer or boar.

Asiatic wild dogs