Who let the dogs out?

Kadbanwadi grassland on Deccan plateau faces threats from free-ranging dogs, impacting Indian grey wolf population.

Kadbanwadi (Pune)

The Kadbanwadi grassland of the Deccan plateau wear a different colour depending on the season: in summer the grass shimmers gold; in monsoon the grassland turn parakeet green. About 276 kilometres away from Maharashtra’s capital of Mumbai, atop a hill is the Kadbanwadi village, on the edge of the grassland that stretches across about 2,000 hectares, in Indapur tehsil of Pune district.

Here, the shepherd community — the Shegar Dhangar — has coexisted with animals and birds through time. The Bengal fox, striped hyena, and Brahminy kite are few in number. The Indian grey wolf is considered the guardian of the grassland. As an apex predator, it indicates the health of the ecosystem, regulating the numbers of smaller predators and herbivores.

These wolves, brown with black-and-white markings on their backs, are on the ‘Red List’ of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an environmental network, meaning they are at risk of extinction. The species is also on India’s Schedule I list of animals, which receive the highest level of protection.

There are many reasons for the slow disappearance of these wolves. Among them is habitat loss, because of agriculture and semi-urban expansion into grasslands, say scientists and Forest Department officials. Over the past decade however, an additional threat has emerged: free-ranging dogs that hunt in packs.

These animals, descendants of domesticated dogs, have streaks of wild behaviour. They have begun to appear in villages around the grassland to scavenge on the waste dumped by cities.

Kadbanwadi has a few poultry farms, which are, as per the usual practice, located at some distance from urban centres. A poultry farm worker in Kadbanwadi says, “We are supposed to bury the dead, but the dogs come for the carcasses and become aggressive.”