Way of the Dhole

Chapter 1: What's A Dhole?

Before picking up this book you may or may not have wondered "What on earth is a dhole?".

 Dholes are a type of animal that belongs in a group of carnivorous mammals called the Canidae, or Canids. Canids themselves are basically members of the dog family: wolves, foxes, coyotes, the dog who probably likes sleeping on your couch or gets excited when you come home, and many more. 

Dholes are also called Red Dogs, Whistling Dogs, and Asiatic Wild Dogs. But even though people sometimes call them "wild dogs" dholes aren't actually true dogs. True dogs are in the genus Canis. Canids in this genus are wolves, coyotes, jackals, and domestic dogs. Dholes on the other hand, or paw, in this case, are the only surviving members of the genus Cuon. You can tell members of the Canis genus from those in the Cuon genus in two ways: One is the ears that are slightly rounded and the other way is the muzzle that's short, proportionally speaking, which gives dholes a strong bite. Their closest living cousins are the Painted Dogs that live in Africa. In fact, there's evidence that at some point in the past, dholes and painted dogs actually interbred with each other. 

In appearance, dholes are either sand-colored or the color of rust with a bushy black tail. In size, they're 20 inches tall at the shoulder, are 4 feet long give or take when you include the tail and they weigh around 36 pounds on average, but they can weigh up to 44 pounds. 

(Photo Credit goes to Johan Spaedtke) 

If you were to look into a dhole's mouth, you'd find something else that makes them unique. Most canids have three molars on both sides of their lower jaw, but dholes only have two. Not only that, but when you look at the lower carnassial teeth, which are the blade-like teeth at the back of the mouth, you'll see that they have a cutting blade that's extra long. This is called a trenchant heel. What this does is that it allows dholes to easily sink their teeth into flesh and it helps them eat quickly. 

(Photo Credit goes to RCSOMA/A 138.42, Barry Berkowitz, and Peter Shellis) 

Speaking of eating, a dhole can eat up to 11 pounds of meat in a single sitting! While it hasn't been confirmed, this might let them go without food for a few days. You can imagine this comes in handy when you have to hunt prey that can injure you for a living, it helps save energy.  

How exactly did the dhole get its name? Nobody really knows. One idea is that it may have come from the word thola which in Kannada means wolf. If that's the case, then the dhole's own name is a misnomer.