Taxon name
Cuon alpinus
(Pallas, 1811)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Cuon alpinus
(Pallas, 1811)
Common name(s)
Dhole, Red Dog, Indian Wild Dog, Asiatic Wild Dog, Ram Kutta (Kukur), Bon Kutta
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Mammals
Species authority
(Pallas, 1811)
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
Canis dukhunensis Sykes, 1831; Canis primaevus Hodgson, 1833; Cuon primaevus Adams, 1858
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
Bangladesh
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species is rare and restricted only to a few severely fragmented areas in the eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeast of Bangladesh. It used to occur in the forests of Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary in the northeast until 2000. The quality and quantity of habitats are declining rapidly when prey species is diminishing at an alarming rate. It has been assumed that at least 50% of the population has been reduced over the last ten years. Therefore, it qualifies for Endangered category.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
M. Monirul H. Khan
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN (2012) IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. Second edition. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iv + 32pp; IUCN (2012) Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
URL (link) of redlist assessment or publication
http://iucnredlistbd.org/
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
It is native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Thailand and Viet Nam. Rare and restricted only to several isolated patches in eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts (Kassalong RF, Pablakhali WS, Rheinkheong RF and Sangu WS) in the southeast of Bangladesh. Previously it occurred (until the year 2000) in the forests of Rema-Kalenga WS in the northeast. It used to be common in forests of Geater Sylhet, Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts Districts at least up to 1950s. Then, as the forest denudation followed by hunting of it and its prey and all major wildlife species of these mixed evergreen forest the species has virtually disappeared, barring a few very difficult to observe packs in the remotest parts of the Hill Tracts. A live specimen collected from the Hill Tracts was in display in Dhaka Zoo during 1970s (Ahmed 1982).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes, in the publication/on website
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
Dhole is found mostly in family packs of 2-30 individuals and unites in groups during day time but rarely at night. Prey animals include medium-sized ungulates such as deer, wild boar and wild goat, and occasionally domestic cattle. It sleeps inside a den. Mating takes place during September-February giving birth to 4-6 cubs at a time in the den after a gestation period of 60-65 days (Durbin et al. 2008). In Bangladesh, its prey animals mostly include Wild Boar, Barking Deer, Sambar, supplemented with smaller ground-dwelling vertebrates (M A Khan pers. comm.). Occurs in a wide variety of vegetation types, including primary, secondary and degraded forms of tropical dry and moist deciduous forest, evergreen and mixed evergreen forests, dry thorn forests, grassland, scrub, forest mosaics, and alpine steppe (above 3,000 m mean sea level). It has not been recorded from desert regions. In Bangladesh it is restricted to mixed evergreen forest.
History
Critically Endangered in Bangladesh (IUCN Bangladesh 2000).
Publication
IUCN Bangladesh. 2015. Red List of Bangladesh Volume 2: Mammals. IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Bangladesh Country Office, Dhaka, Bangladesh, pp. xvi+232
