Editing Dhole (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Dhole Mudhumalai.jpg|thumb|Lone dhole strolling through the jungle in [[Mudumalai National Park]]]]
[[File:Dhole at Tadoba.jpg|thumb|Dhole in [[Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve]], Maharashtra, India]]
Historically, the dhole lived in [[Singapore]] and throughout [[Central Asia]] including [[Afghanistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Mongolia]], [[Tajikistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]], though it is now considered to be regionally extinct in these regions.<ref name=iucn/> Historical record in [[South Korea]] from the [[Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty]] also indicate that the dhole once inhabited [[Yangju]] in [[Gyeonggi Province]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=조선왕조실록 – 양주 등지에 출몰하는 승냥이와 범을 잡도록 전교하다 |trans-title=Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty – Ordered to capture the dholes and tigers in Yangju and other areas |url=https://sillok.history.go.kr/id/kob_11004008_005 |access-date=7 September 2024 |website=[[Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty]] |language=ko}}</ref> but it is now also extinct in South Korea,<ref name=iucn/> with the last known capture reports in 1909 and 1921 from [[Yeoncheon]] of [[Gyeonggi Province]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=기묘한 생김새의 개과 동물, 승냥이|trans-title=Dhole, a canid with an odd appearance|access-date=10 September 2024|website=usjournal.kr|date=27 August 2020 |language=ko|url=https://m.usjournal.kr/news/newsview.php?ncode=1065574756016281}}</ref> The current presence of dholes in [[North Korea]] and [[Pakistan]] is considered uncertain.<ref name=iucn/> The dholes also once inhabited the alpine steppes extending into [[Kashmir]] to the [[Ladakh]] area, though they disappeared from 60% of their historic range in India during the past century.<ref name=iucn/> In India, Myanmar, Indochina, Indonesia and China, it prefers forested areas in [[alpine zone]]s and is occasionally sighted in [[plain]]s regions.<ref name="heptner1998"/>

In the [[Bek-Tosot Conservancy]] of southern [[Kyrgyzstan]], the possible presence of the dholes was considered likely based on genetic samples collected in 2019.<ref name=Cancellare-2022>{{cite journal |author1=Cancellare, I.A. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Kachel, S.M. |author3=Kubanychbekov, Z. |author4=Kulenbekov, R. |author5=Pilgrim, K.L. |author6=McCarthy, K.P. |author7=Weckworth, B.V. |year=2022 |title=New distribution record of dhole from southern Kyrgyzstan using non-invasive genetic sampling |journal=Canid Biology & Conservation |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=1–3 |url=https://www.canids.org/CBC/24/Dhole_distribution_Kyrgyzstan.pdf |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202160121/https://www.canids.org/CBC/24/Dhole_distribution_Kyrgyzstan.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> This was the first record of dholes from the country in almost three decades.<ref name=Cancellare-2022/>

The dhole might still be present in the [[Tunkinsky National Park]] in extreme southern [[Siberia]] near [[Lake Baikal]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Williams, M. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Troitskaya, N. |year=2007 |url=http://www.wild-russia.org/pubs/pdfs/42.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128043346/http://www.wild-russia.org/pubs/pdfs/42.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-28 |url-status=live |title=Then and Now: Updates from Russia's Imperiled Zapovedniks |journal=Russian Conservation News |volume=42 |page=14}}</ref> It possibly still lives in the [[Primorsky Krai]] province in far eastern Russia, where it was considered a rare and endangered species in 2004, with unconfirmed reports in the Pikthsa-Tigrovy Dom protected forest area; no sighting was reported in other areas since the late 1970s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Newell |first=J. |url=https://archive.org/details/russianfareastre0000newe |title=The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development |publisher=Daniel & Daniel |year=2004 |edition=Second |location=McKinleyville}}</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2024}}
Currently, no other recent reports are confirmed of dholes being present in [[Russia]],<ref name=Makenov-2018>{{Cite journal |last=Makenov |first=M. |date=2018 |title=Extinct or extant? A review of dhole (''Cuon alpinus'' Pallas, 1811) distribution in the former USSR and modern Russia |journal=Mammal Research |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1007/s13364-017-0339-8 |s2cid=20037994}}</ref> so the IUCN considered them to be extinct in Russia.<ref name=iucn/> However, the dhole might be present in the eastern [[Sayan Mountains]] and in the [[Transbaikal]] region; it has been sighted in [[Tofalaria]] in the [[Irkutsk Oblast]], the [[Republic of Buryatia]] and [[Zabaykalsky Krai]].<ref name=Makenov-2018/>

One pack was sighted in the [[Qilian Mountains]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Harris, R. B. |year=2006 |title= Attempted predation on blue sheep ''Pseudois nayaur'' by dholes ''Cuon alpinus'' |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=103 |pages=95–97}}</ref>
In 2011 to 2013, local government officials and herders reported the presence of several dhole packs at elevations of {{cvt|2000|to|3500|m}} near [[Taxkorgan Nature Reserve]] in the [[Xinjiang]] Autonomous Region. Several packs and a female adult with pups were also recorded by [[camera trap]]s at elevations of around {{cvt|2500|to|4000|m}} in Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve in the northern [[Gansu Province]] in 2013–2014.<ref name=Riordan2015>{{cite journal |author=Riordan, P. |year=2015 |title=New evidence of dhole ''Cuon alpinus'' populations in northwest China |journal=Oryx |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=203–204 |doi=10.1017/s0030605315000046 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
Dholes have been also reported in the [[Altyn-Tagh]] Mountains.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Yadong, X. |author2=Diqiang, L. |author3=Wenfa, X. |author4=Yuguang, Z. |author5=Bin, F. |author6=Heng, J. |year=2015 |title=Records of the dhole (''Cuon alpinus'') in an arid region of the Altun Mountains in western China |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=61 |issue=6 |pages=903–907 |doi=10.1007/s10344-015-0947-z |bibcode=2015EJWR...61..903X |s2cid=16752357}}</ref>

In China's [[Yunnan]] Province, dholes were recorded in [[Baima Xueshan Nature Reserve]] in 2010–2011.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Li, X. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Buzzard, P. |author3=Chen, Y. |author4=Jiang, X. |year=2013 |title=Patterns of livestock predation by carnivores: human-wildlife conflict in northwest Yunnan, China |journal=Environ Manage |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=1334–1340 |doi=10.1007/s00267-013-0192-8 |pmid=24202281 |bibcode=2013EnMan..52.1334L |s2cid=5273403}}</ref> Dhole samples were obtained in [[Jiangxi]] Province in 2013.<ref>{{cite book |author=Canid and Hyaenid Taxon Advisory Group |year=2017 |title=Best Practice Guideline Dhole (''C. alpinus'') |location=Amsterdam |publisher=European Association of Zoos and Aquaria |url=https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC/2017-Dhole-EAZA-Best-Practice-Guidelines-Approved.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206040139/https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/CCC/2017-Dhole-EAZA-Best-Practice-Guidelines-Approved.pdf |archive-date=2020-02-06 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Confirmed records by camera-trapping since 2008 have occurred in southern and western [[Gansu]] province, southern [[Shaanxi]] province, southern [[Qinghai]] province, southern and western [[Yunnan]] province, western [[Sichuan]] province, the southern [[Xinjiang]] Autonomous Region and in the Southeastern [[Tibet]] Autonomoous Region.<ref>Kao, J., N. Songsasen, K. Ferraz and K. Traylor-Holzer (Eds.) (2020). Range-wide Population and Habitat Viability Assessment for the Dhole, ''Cuon alpinus''. IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group, Apple Valley, MN, USA. p8. https://www.canids.org/resources/Dhole_PHVA_Report_2020.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606174930/https://www.canids.org/resources/Dhole_PHVA_Report_2020.pdf |date=6 June 2020 }}</ref> There are also historical records of dhole dating to 1521–1935 in Hainan Island, but the species is no longer present and is estimated to have become extinct around 1942.<ref name=Turvey_al2019/>

The dhole occurs in most of India south of the Ganges, particularly in the Central Indian Highlands and the [[Western Ghats|Western]] and [[Eastern Ghats]]. It is also present in [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Assam]], [[Meghalaya]] and [[West Bengal]] and in the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]]'s [[Terai]] region. Dhole populations in the [[Himalaya]]s and northwest India are fragmented.<ref name=iucn/>

In 2011, dhole packs were recorded by camera traps in the [[Chitwan National Park]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Thapa, K. |author2=Kelly, M. J. |author3=Karki, J. B. |author4=Subedi, N. |name-list-style=amp |year=2013 |title=First camera trap record of pack hunting dholes in Chitwan National Park, Nepal |journal=Canid Biology & Conservation |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=4–7 |url=http://www.canids.org/CBC/16/Dholes_in_Nepal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221190135/http://www.canids.org/CBC/16/Dholes_in_Nepal.pdf |archive-date=2014-12-21 |url-status=live}}</ref> Its presence was confirmed in the [[Kanchenjunga Conservation Area]] in 2011 by camera traps.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.3126/init.v4i0.5531 |title=The Pack Hunter (Dhole): Received Little Scientific Attention |journal=The Initiation |volume=4 |pages=8–13 |year=2011 |last1=Khatiwada |first1=A. P. |last2=Awasthi |first2=K. D. |last3=Gautam |first3=N. P. |last4=Jnawali |first4=S. R. |last5=Subedi |first5=N. |last6=Aryal |first6=A. |name-list-style=amp |url=http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/INIT/article/download/5531/4560 |doi-access=free |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-date=22 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922103658/https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/INIT/article/download/5531/4560 |url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2020, dholes were sighted in the [[Vansda National Park]], with camera traps confirming the presence of two individuals in May of the same year. This was the first confirmed sighting of dholes in [[Gujarat]] since 1970.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Parmar |first=V. |date=2020 |title=Rare whistling dogs spotted in Gujarat after 50 years |work=[[The Times of India]] |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/whistling-dog-spotted-in-gujarat-after-50-years/articleshow/75905282.cms |access-date=1 June 2020 |archive-date=1 June 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601141034/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/whistling-dog-spotted-in-gujarat-after-50-years/articleshow/75905282.cms}}</ref>

In [[Bhutan]], the dhole is present in [[Jigme Dorji National Park]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wangchuk, T. |year=2004 |title= Predator-prey dynamics: the role of predators in the control of problem species |journal= Journal of Bhutan Studies |volume=10 |pages=68–89 |url=http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/publicationFiles/JBS/JBS_Vol10/v10-7.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224070842/http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/publicationFiles/JBS/JBS_Vol10/v10-7.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-24 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Thinley, P. |author2=Kamler, J. F. |author3=Wang, S. W. |author4=Lham, K. |author5=Stenkewitz, U. |year=2011 |title=Seasonal diet of dholes (''Cuon alpinus'') in northwestern Bhutan |journal=Mammalian Biology |volume=76 |issue=4 |pages=518–520 |doi=10.1016/j.mambio.2011.02.003 |bibcode=2011MamBi..76..518T}}</ref>

In [[Bangladesh]], it inhabits forest reserves in the [[Sylhet]] area, as well the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]] in the southeast. Recent camera trap photos in the Chittagong in 2016 showed the continued presence of the dhole.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/mar/01/tiger-country-scientists-uncover-wild-surprises-in-tribal-bangladesh|title=Tiger country? Scientists uncover wild surprises in tribal Bangladesh |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2016 |access-date=6 June 2020|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729204731/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2016/mar/01/tiger-country-scientists-uncover-wild-surprises-in-tribal-bangladesh|url-status=live}}</ref> These regions probably do not harbour a viable population, as mostly small groups or solitary individuals were sighted.<ref name=iucn/>

In [[Myanmar]], the dhole is present in several protected areas.<ref name=iucn/> In 2015, dholes and tigers were recorded by camera-traps for the first time in the hill forests of [[Karen State]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Saw Sha Bwe Moo |author2=Froese, G.Z.L. |author3=Gray, T. N. E. |year=2017 |title=First structured camera-trap surveys in Karen State, Myanmar, reveal high diversity of globally threatened mammals |journal=Oryx |volume=52 |issue=3 |doi=10.1017/S0030605316001113 |pages=1–7|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Its range is highly fragmented in the [[Malaysian Peninsula]], [[Sumatra]], [[Java]], [[Vietnam]] and [[Thailand]], with the Vietnamese population considered to be possibly extinct.<ref name=iucn/> In 2014, camera trap videos in the montane tropical forests at {{Cvt|2000|m}} in the [[Kerinci Seblat National Park]] in Sumatra revealed its continued presence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fauna-flora.org/sumatran-secrets-revealed-high-altitude-camera-trapping/ |title=Sumatran secrets start to be revealed by high altitude camera trapping |website=Flora and Fauna International |access-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501235901/http://www.fauna-flora.org/sumatran-secrets-revealed-high-altitude-camera-trapping/|archive-date=1 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> A camera trapping survey in the [[Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary]] in Thailand from January 2008 to February 2010 documented one healthy dhole pack.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Jenks, K. E. |author2=Songsasen, N. |author3=P. Leimgruber |name-list-style=amp |year=2012 |title=Camera trap records of dholes in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand |journal=Canid News |pages=1–5 |url=http://www.canids.org/canidnews/15/Camera_trap_records_of_dholes_in_Thailand.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221202145/http://www.canids.org/canidnews/15/Camera_trap_records_of_dholes_in_Thailand.pdf |archive-date=2014-12-21 |url-status=live}}</ref> In northern [[Laos]], dholes were studied in [[Nam Et-Phou Louey]] National Protected Area.<ref name=Kamler_al2012/> Camera trap surveys from 2012 to 2017 recorded dholes in the same Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rasphone |first1=Akchousanh |last2=Kéry |first2=Marc |last3=Kamler |first3=Jan F. |last4=Macdonald |first4=David W. |title=Documenting the demise of tiger and leopard, and the status of other carnivores and prey, in Lao PDR's most prized protected area: Nam Et - Phou Louey |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |date=October 2019 |volume=20 |pages=e00766 |doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00766 |s2cid=202920288 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2019GEcoC..2000766R}}</ref>

In [[Vietnam]], dholes were sighted only in [[Pu Mat National Park]] in 1999, in [[Yok Don National Park]] in 2003 and 2004; and in [[Ninh Thuan Province]] in 2014.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hoffmann |first1=M. |last2=Abramov |first2=A. |last3=Duc |first3=H. M. |last4=Trai |first4=L. T. |last5=Long |first5=B. |last6=Nguyen |first6=A. |last7=Son |first7=N. T. |last8=Rawson |first8=B. |last9=Timmins |first9=R. |last10=Bang |first10=T. V. |last11=Willcox |first11=D. |title=The status of wild canids (Canidae, Carnivora) in Vietnam |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |date=2019 |volume=11 |issue=8 |pages=13951–13959 |doi=10.11609/jott.4846.11.8.13951-13959 |s2cid=198272874 |doi-access=free |name-list-style=amp}}</ref>

A disjunct dhole population was reported in the area of [[Trabzon]] and [[Rize]] in northeastern [[Turkey]] near the border with [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Serez, M. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Eroðlu, M. |year=1994 |title=A new threatened wolf species, ''Cuon alpinus hesperius'' Afanasiev and Zolatarev, 1935 in Turkey |journal=Council of Europe Environmental Encounters Series |volume=17 |pages=103–106}}</ref> This report was not considered to be reliable.<ref name=iucn/> One single individual was claimed to have been shot in 2013 in the nearby [[Kabardino-Balkaria]] Republic of Russia in the central [[Caucasus]]; its remains were analysed in May 2015 by a biologist from the [[Kabardino-Balkarian State University]], who concluded that the skull was indeed that of a dhole.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Khatukhov, A.M. |title=Красный волк (''Cuon alpinus'' Pallas, 1811) на Центральном Кавказе |trans-title=The Dhole (''Cuon alpinus'' Pallas 1811) in the Central Caucasus |journal=Современные проблемы науки и образования |volume=3 |pages=574–581 |year=2015 |url=http://www.science-education.ru/pdf/2015/3/195.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208144903/http://www.science-education.ru/pdf/2015/3/195.pdf |archive-date=2015-12-08 |url-status=live}}</ref> In August 2015, researchers from the [[National Museum of Natural History (Bulgaria)|National Museum of Natural History]] and the [[Karadeniz Technical University]] started an expedition to track and document possible Turkish population of dhole.<ref>{{cite web |date=2015 |title=NMNHS expedition went on the trail of an unknown population of the rare dhole in Turkey |url=http://www.nmnhs.com/15081601-news_en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909061531/http://www.nmnhs.com/15081601-news_en.html |archive-date=9 September 2015 |access-date=4 September 2015 |work=National Museum of Natural History, Sofia (NMNHS)}}</ref> In October 2015, they concluded that two skins of alleged dholes in Turkey probably belonged to dogs, pending DNA analysis of samples from the skins, and, having analysed photos of the skull of alleged dhole in Kabardino-Balkaria Republic of Russia, they concluded it was a grey wolf.<ref>{{cite web |last=Coel |first=C. |date=12 October 2015 |title=[UPDATE] Strongly endangered and undescribed subspecies of dhole discovered? Dhole NOT less endangered than previously thought, according to NMNHS (Bulgaria) |url=http://cetaf.org/strongly-endangered-and-undescribed-subspecies-of-dhole-discovered |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208061158/http://cetaf.org/strongly-endangered-and-undescribed-subspecies-of-dhole-discovered |archive-date=8 December 2015 |access-date=15 October 2015 |website=Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities}}</ref>