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Food Habits of Dhole Cuon alpinus in Tropical Forests of Southern India


Affiliations
1 Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202 002, India
 

The food habits of dhole were evaluated in the tropical forests of Silent Valley National Park (SVNP) from December 2011 to May 2012 by analysing their scats. Eleven prey species were identified. Sambar was found to be the principal prey species for dhole as inferred from the relative biomass consumption of prey remains in dhole scats. Regarding prey biomass contribution, sambar was highest (66.74%) while grey jungle fowl was the lowest (0.32%). The aim of this study was to assess the food habits of dhole co-existing with large predators, tiger and leopard in the tropical forests of SVNP.

Keywords

Dhole, Food Habit, Prey Species, Scat Analysis, SVNP.
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  • Food Habits of Dhole Cuon alpinus in Tropical Forests of Southern India

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Authors

Shahid A. Dar
Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202 002, India
Jamal A. Khan
Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202 002, India

Abstract


The food habits of dhole were evaluated in the tropical forests of Silent Valley National Park (SVNP) from December 2011 to May 2012 by analysing their scats. Eleven prey species were identified. Sambar was found to be the principal prey species for dhole as inferred from the relative biomass consumption of prey remains in dhole scats. Regarding prey biomass contribution, sambar was highest (66.74%) while grey jungle fowl was the lowest (0.32%). The aim of this study was to assess the food habits of dhole co-existing with large predators, tiger and leopard in the tropical forests of SVNP.

Keywords


Dhole, Food Habit, Prey Species, Scat Analysis, SVNP.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv111%2Fi10%2F1701-1705