Sarma wrote on X, “Behind Every Scientific Breakthrough Is Years of Hard Work. In the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape, after 3 years of extensive studies, researchers have confirmed the presence of Dhole (Cuon Alpinus), a whistling hunter which can take down prey 8 times its body weight!”
A new study in the Journal of Threatened Taxa has proven the return of the Asiatic wild dog to the KKAL in Assam. An important milestone in wildlife monitoring was reached when the elusive carnivore was photographed six times in the Amguri corridor (Sivasagar district). In this region of Assam, this is the first camera trap proof of the endangered dhole. A single Dhole was visible in all six of the survey's photos, which were taken only 375 meters from National Highway 37 and about 270 meters from the closest populated area. Dholes are known for their gregarious behavior; they usually travel in packs, although depending on the availability of prey, they may hunt in smaller groups.
Threats include habitat loss, retaliatory killings, and a decrease in the availability of prey have caused the species to occupy fewer than 25% of its former global range.
Once found throughout Central, East, and Southeast Asia, from the Russian Altai mountains to India and Southeast Asia, the dhole is listed as "Endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List and is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
With proven populations in areas of China, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Southeast Asia, its distribution is now far more dispersed.
Numerous ecological and genetic studies on dholes have been conducted in India, but there hasn't been much research done in the northeastern states. Although the species has been recorded historically in states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and West Bengal, the last confirmed sighting in the Northeast occurred in 2011, when birdwatchers spotted a pack in Nagaland.