Prey, habitat dictate dhole-tiger coexistence: Study 

Overlapping prey availability or habitat suitability could dictate a positive association between dholes and tigers, facilitating co-existence or even cooperative behaviours between the two species of carnivores, a new study has found. The dhole or Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus) is the only endangered wild pack-living canid in the tropical Indian forests and is considered at high risk of extinction. The study through camera traps by Urjit Bhatt and Salvador Lyngdoh in western Assam’s Manas National Park also revealed that the diurnal activity of the dholes had the highest temporal overlap with leopards and the lowest with clouded leopards. 

GUWAHATI Overlapping prey availability or habitat suitability could dictate a positive association between dholes and tigers, facilitating co-existence or even cooperative behaviours between the two species of carnivores, a new study has found. 

The dhole or Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus) is the only endangered wild pack-living canid in the tropical Indian forests and is considered at high risk of extinction. 

The study through camera traps by Urjit Bhatt and Salvador Lyngdoh in western Assam’s Manas National Park also revealed that the diurnal activity of the dholes had the highest temporal overlap with leopards and the lowest with clouded leopards. 

The two scientists are associated with the Department of Landscape Level Planning and Management at the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India. Their paper titled ‘Do dholes segregate themselves from their sympatrids? Habitat use and carnivore co‑existence in the tropical forest’ was published in the latest issue of Mammalian Biology, a peer-reviewed international scientific journal edited by the German Society for Mammalian Biology. 

Sympatric refers to animals, plant species, and populations within the same or overlapping geographical areas. 

The scientists studied the dholes in three phases from April 2017 to May 2019 in the 500 sq. km Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This park and the adjoining Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan form one of the largest areas of conservation significance in South Asia, representing the full range of habitats from the subtropical plains to the alpine zone. 

The range of habitats in the cross-border national park is ideal for the dholes.