Vizag zoo selected as conservation breeding centre for ‘dholes’

In an effort to recover the population of the endangered wild dogs or ‘dhole’, the Central Zoo Authority has selected Indira Gandhi Zoological Park as the conservation breeding centre for wild dogs in the country and Vandalur Zoo in Chennai as the associate zoo in the pilot project.

“We have identified some areas for the breeding centre in the zoo premises. Once the biologist arrives here by next month, we will conduct a detailed study and submit the proposal by April,” zoo curator G. Ramalingam told The Hindu .

The breeding centre will have 24 hours monitoring unit with CCTV cameras. The dholes are classified as endangered by the IUCN, due to habitat loss, depletion of its prey base, competition from other predators, persecution and possibly diseases from domestic and feral dogs.

Vizag zoo is the only zoo in the country that was successful in the inbreeding of wild dogs for the third time. This time the zoo witnessed the birth of five wild dog pups a month ago.

“The area is now being strictly monitored by guards to prevent any kind of disturbances. Wild dogs are highly sensitive to disturbances and the young ones are vulnerable till they cross five months,” the curator said.

With its sharp ears and piercing eyes, the male and the female keep a track of the movements of kites and eagles hovering over the area. The pack of young ones, however, comes out only in the early hours of the day and in the late evenings when the keeper comes to serve them food. While they scurry along with each other to get their share of food, their parents shoo away the flying kites and eagles that try to nab away the share.

The zoo has two enclosures of wild dogs and a pair of litter was also spotted in the other location by zoo keepers.

Dholes live in packs and the size of the packs indicates the health of the species. While they are fearful of humans, dhole packs are bold enough to attack large and dangerous animals such as wild boar, water buffalo and even tigers.

Though not a fast runner, the dhole, however, has great stamina, and pursues its prey for hours. The dhole has some extraordinary vocal calls - it can whistle, scream, mew, and even cluck like a chicken. It has amazing jumping powers and can reach a vertical height of at least 2.3 metres (7.5 ft).