UPSC Articles
Dhole (Asiatic Wild Dog)
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Environment
In News: Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh rank high in the conservation of dhole in India, according to a new study.
Dhole
- The dhole is a canid native to Central, South, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
- India perhaps supports the largest number of dholes, with key populations found in three landscapes — Western Ghats, Central India and Northeast India.
- IUCN Status: Endangered
- Dholes play an important role as apex predators in forest ecosystems.
- Besides the tiger, the dhole is the only large carnivore in India that is under IUCN’s ‘endangered’ category.
- Factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss, loss of prey, competition with other species, persecution due to livestock predation and disease transfer from domestic dogs.
Do You Know?
- In 2014, the Indian government sanctioned its first dhole conservation breeding centre at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) in Visakhapatnam.
- In India, the dhole is protected under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
