Editing Dhole (section)

===Enemies and competitors===
[[File:Dhole killed by leopard.jpg|thumb|Dhole killed and cached in a tree by a [[leopard]], India]]
In some areas, dholes are [[wiktionary:sympatric|sympatric]] to [[tiger]]s and [[leopard]]s. Competition between these species is mostly avoided through differences in prey selection, although there is still substantial dietary overlap. Along with leopards, dholes typically target animals in the {{cvt|30|–|175|kg}} range (mean weights of {{cvt|35.3|kg}} for dhole and {{cvt|23.4|kg}} for leopard), while tigers selected for prey animals heavier than {{cvt|176|kg}} (but their mean prey weight was {{cvt|65.5|kg}}). Also, other characteristics of the prey, such as sex, arboreality and aggressiveness, may play a role in prey selection. For example, dholes preferentially select male chital, whereas leopards kill both sexes more evenly (and tigers prefer larger prey altogether), dholes and tigers kill langurs rarely compared to leopards due to the leopards' greater arboreality, while leopards kill wild boar infrequently due to the inability of this relatively light predator to tackle aggressive prey of comparable weight.<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal |author1=Karanth, K. U. |author2=Sunquist, M. E. |jstor=5647 |title=Prey selection by tiger, leopard and dhole in tropical forests |journal=[[Journal of Animal Ecology]] |year=1995 |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=439–450|doi=10.2307/5647 |bibcode=1995JAnEc..64..439K |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

Tigers are dangerous opponents for dholes, as they have sufficient strength to kill a dhole with a single paw strike.<ref name="perry1965">{{cite book |author=Perry, R. |year=1964 |title=The World of the Tiger |publisher=Cassell |location=London}}</ref> Dhole packs are smaller in areas with higher tiger densities due to tigers directly killing dholes and stealing kills they made. The kleptoparasitism causes dholes to prefer hunting smaller animals because they can eat more of a smaller carcass before a tiger arrives to steal it. Direct predation can lead to lower reproductive and recruitment rates, lower hunting success rates and less food for the pups when a helper is killed, and potentially pack destabilization if one member of the breeding pair is killed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bhandari |first1=Aishwarya |last2=Ghaskadbi |first2=Pallavi |last3=Nigam |first3=Parag |last4=Habib |first4=Bilal |name-list-style=and |year=2021 |title=Dhole pack size variation: Assessing the effect of prey availability and apex predator |url= |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=11 |issue=9 |pages=4774–4785 |bibcode=2021EcoEv..11.4774B |doi=10.1002/ece3.7380 |pmc=8093734 |pmid=33976847}}</ref>

Dhole packs may steal leopard kills, while leopards may kill dholes if they encounter them singly or in pairs.<ref name=Pocock1941/> There are numerous records of leopards being treed by dholes.<ref name="nowak1983">{{cite book |author1=Walker, E. P. |author2=Nowak, R. M. |author3=Warnick, F. |year=1983 |title=Walker's Mammals of the World |edition=Fourth |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |name-list-style=amp}}</ref> Dholes were once thought to be a major factor in reducing [[Asiatic cheetah]] populations, though this is doubtful, as cheetahs live in open areas as opposed to forested areas favoured by dholes.<ref name="fin1929">{{cite book |author=Finn, F. |year=1929 |title=Sterndale's Mammalia of India |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Co. |location=London}}</ref> Since leopards are smaller than tigers and are more likely to hunt dholes, dhole packs tend to react more aggressively toward them than they do towards tigers.<ref name="venkataraman">{{cite journal |author=Venkataraman, A. |year=1995 |title=Do dholes (''Cuon alpinus'') live in packs in response to competition with or predation by large cats? |journal=Current Science |volume=69 |issue=11 |pages=934–936 |url=http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/25085/1/article_id_069_11_0934_0936_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713030406/http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/25085/1/article_id_069_11_0934_0936_0.pdf |archive-date=2019-07-13 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Dhole packs occasionally attack [[Asiatic black bear]]s, [[snow leopard]]s and [[sloth bear]]s. When attacking bears, dholes will attempt to prevent them from seeking refuge in caves and lacerate their hindquarters.<ref name=Pocock1941/>
Although usually antagonistic toward [[wolves]],<ref name=heptner1998/> they may hunt and feed alongside one another.<ref name=shretha1997>{{cite book |author=Shrestha, T. J. |year=1997 |title=Mammals of Nepal: (with reference to those of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan) |publisher=Bimala Shrestha |location=Kathmandu |isbn=978-0-9524390-6-6}}</ref>

The dhole is also sympatric with the [[Indian wolf]] (''Canis lupus pallipes'') in parts of its range.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Mukherjee, S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Zelcer, M. |author3=Kotler, B.P. |year=2009 |title=Patch use in time and space for a meso-predator in a risky world |journal=Oecologia |volume=159 |issue=3| pages=661–668 |doi=10.1007/s00442-008-1243-3 |pmid=19082629 |bibcode=2009Oecol.159..661M |s2cid=24051254}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Afik, D. |author2=Pinshow, B. |year=1993 |title=Temperature regulation and water economy in desert wolves |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=197–209 |doi=10.1006/jare.1993.1017 |bibcode=1993JArEn..24..197A}}</ref> There is at least one record of a lone wolf associating with a pair of dholes in [[Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary]],<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Nair M. V. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Panda S. K. |year=2013 |title=Just Friends |journal=Sanctuary Asia |volume=XXXIII |page=3 |url=http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/features/9390-just-friends.html |access-date=23 December 2014 |archive-date=24 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724195645/https://www.sanctuaryasia.com/magazines/features/9390-just-friends.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and two observations in [[Satpura Tiger Reserve]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ghaskadbi, P. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Das, J. |author3=Mahadev, V. |author4=Habib, B. |year=2021 |title=First record of mixed species association between dholes and a wolf from Satpura Tiger Reserve, India |journal=Canid Biology & Conservation |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=15–17 |url=https://www.canids.org/CBC/23/Dhole_wolf_association.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017142640/https://www.canids.org/CBC/23/Dhole_wolf_association.pdf |archive-date=2021-10-17 |url-status=live}}</ref> They infrequently associate in mixed groups with [[golden jackal]]s. Domestic dogs may kill dholes, though they will feed alongside them on occasion.<ref name=humphrey1990>{{cite book |author1=Humphrey, S. R. |author2=Bain, J. R. |name-list-style=amp |year=1990 |title=Endangered Animals of Thailand |publisher=Sandhill Crane Press |location=Gainesville |isbn=978-1-877743-07-8}}</ref>