The watch tower overlooking Maravakandy dam at the edge of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is an excellent vantage point to observe wild animals such as elephants, bears, otters and tigers.
One evening, the placidity of Maravakandy was broken by a pack of five village dogs in furious pursuit of a spotted deer. The chase was short-lived, and, within five minutes the deer lay limp on the forest floor.
The technique and coordination displayed by the dogs were not what we would expect from domestic animals. Three of the dogs ran towards the village and reappeared with a man who marched purposefully towards the dead deer. Upon noticing that he was being watched, he walked away. At that very instance, the dogs took off after another deer by the water’s edge.
It is common for domestic dogs to hunt small birds and mammals near forest edges. In the case of the spotted deer at Maravakandy, however, it is possible that villagers exploit the dogs’ ability to hunt, thereby acquiring wild meat for consumption or sale in local markets.
Several conservation issues surface in the light of such incidents. The most obvious one is lower prey availability for wild carnivores like tigers and leopards. These dogs may also be spreading diseases to wild animals. Domestic animals carry pathogens. Domestic dogs, especially, are known to be carriers of lethal pathogens like rabies virus, canine distemper virus and canine parvovirus.
Interactions with domestic dogs can result in repeated disease outbreaks among wild populations. This can have disastrous consequences. While certain infections can affect all animals, others like parvovirus specifically infect wild canids such as jackals, wolves and wild dogs.
This is of concern in forests like Mudumalai, as they support large populations of the endangered wild dog or dhole. Dholes often venture out of the woods into human-dominated areas like fields. Their highly social nature heightens the possibility of contact with domestic dogs. Diseases may also spread through consumption of infected carcasses. Local extinction of dholes due to diseases in one of their stronghold habitats is a very real threat. Lesser known animals like jackals and wolves that share surrounding habitats may face similar risks.
The Maravakandy episode is not unique. Accounts from other locations indicate that such incidents occur across the country. Training village dogs to procure wild meat is a criminal offence under the category of ‘poaching’. But the larger harm that goes unnoticed is that it indirectly threatens the survival of non-target animals.
And this can even affect humans. A study examining wolf attacks on people around Solapur (Maharashtra) revealed that the wolves were rabid. They, in turn, had contracted rabies from stray dogs. The disease transmission phenomenon may have repercussions beyond our current understanding.
Human settlements in and around forests of India have large and unaccounted number of dogs. These dogs have not yet been identified as a serious conservation threat. Studies in India dealing with disease transfer and the competition dynamics between domestic and wild animals are in the nascent stages. There are no conservation measures to monitor these issues. Dholes frequently move outside forests and foxes, wolves and jackals permanently dwell in the non-protected periphery. This strongly demands that we recognize protected area boundaries as permeable barriers. Management interventions should therefore reach beyond these edges in order to protect our wild canids.
Suman Jumani and Arjun Srivathsa
Alumni of the Post-Graduate Program in Wildlife Biology & Conservation
National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore
Keywords: domestic dogs, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Wildlife Biology & Conservation National Centre for Biological Sciences, Maravakandy dam
Very interesting article relating to conservation issues in a critical forest area. I've personally seen village dogs in this area chasing wild deer on numerous occasions, but it had not previously occurred to me that the consequences might extend beyond the depletion of the prey base within the forest. Kudos to the authors for taking the initiative to make the public aware of the larger consequences of having trained village dogs near forest areas.
I appreciate the author for highlighting this problem of poaching and domestic dogs.
The local bodies held by local people are supposed to take action in controlling the
stray dogs in the revenue areas and forest department can also take action under
their jurisdiction. Instead they are so immersed in their own world of making
finances work and so it not surprising to find their inaction to save our real forest
dwellers.
Its High time that forest departments including Karanataka, Tamil Nadu
and Kerala (these states share common forests) and similar threats
acknowledge these incidents and take up measures to stop such practices
instead of suppressing facts and people who highlight such occurances.
Thanks to the Author who in spite of facing prospect of retributtal from
FD has brought out such hard facts of conservation issues.
Excellent article!
Instances of the same also occur in the neighboring Bandipura and
Nagarhole. Transmission of diseases has been observed very often in
these tropical forests. The recent case of outbreak of suspected
'monkey fever' is another case in point.
The important point to note is the people who are consuming the meat
procured by hunting are not communities that traditionally hunt, but
those who have acquired a taste for wild meat.
Congratulations in bringing these two points out so well in your
article. Hope the forest department takes initiative in curbing these
incidents.
The transfer of the villages/villagers living inside Mudumalai to places
outside the parks was supposed to have taken place a long time ago.
Funds were allocated for the purpose of moving them and no one knows who
is responsible for this delay. Some one needs to be answerable in the
Forest Department. These villages should not exist inside Mudumalai.
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