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Dhole Packs in Human-Influenced Parts of Mudumalai Ranged Over Much Smaller Areas

Wild dhole standing in Mudumalai National Park, India
Research · Ecology

Dhole packs (Cuon alpinus) in the more human-influenced parts of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, India ranged over much smaller areas than packs in more natural forest. Home ranges were estimated at 14.38 and 6.97 km² for two packs exposed to greater human influence, compared with 36.14 and 40.29 km² for two forest packs. The study was published on 7 August 2026.

Researchers combined direct observations with camera and video trapping from 2011 to 2015. The two smaller home ranges also contained much more human-modified land: residential and agricultural areas made up 17.8% of P1’s range and 30.4% of P2’s, compared with less than 1% in each of the P3 and P4 forest ranges. The authors suggest that access to livestock and garbage may reduce the need for long foraging movements, but this was proposed as an explanation rather than demonstrated as the cause of the smaller ranges.

One heavily exposed pack was more active at night

Dholes were mainly active by day, with peaks around dawn and dusk, and often rested for more than six hours around midday. One pack living under particularly strong human influence showed more nighttime activity, which the researchers interpret as a possible way of avoiding people. Encounters with people, domestic animals or vehicles consistently caused resting dholes to flee, even when the disturbance was detected from 50–150 m away.

The human-influenced packs also had higher mortality

Pups were observed only in the two packs using the more human-influenced areas, but these packs also experienced higher adult and pup mortality. The authors identify retaliatory killing and disease transmission from domestic dogs as possible contributors. They recommend reducing access to garbage, lowering disease risks from domestic and feral dogs, improving livestock management and limiting disturbance around long-term resting sites.

Sources and image credit

  1. Sawaguri, S., Sukumar, R., & Kohshima, S. (2026). Ecology of dholes (Cuon alpinus) in human-modified landscapes: pack dynamics, home range, activity patterns and implications for conservation. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 72, 102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-026-02125-4Primary peer-reviewed article published 7 August 2026. Direct observation and camera/video trapping of four identified dhole packs in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve compared home ranges, activity and pack dynamics between areas with high and low human influence.

Image: Timothy A. Gonsalves / Wikimedia Commons — wild dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Mudumalai National Park, Tamil Nadu, India, 24 September 2022; Wikimedia Commons Quality Image, CC BY-SA 4.0. Representative image from the same reserve as the study, not an identified study animal. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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