For communities living in the forests and tea plantations of the Western Ghats, encounters with dholes, or Asiatic wild dogs, are more than just wildlife sightings. Over generations, these encounters have shaped stories, beliefs and a traditional understanding of an animal that many regard with a mixture of respect, curiosity and admiration.
In some tribal communities of Valparai in Tamil Nadu, dholes are known as ‘Vettaikara Apichi’, loosely translated as ‘hunting gods’. The name reflects a cultural association with the animals’ hunting prowess and a tradition of reverence, with researchers also documenting links to forest deities, shrines, rituals, prayers and oral traditions.
Two studies led by researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, and Wildlife Conservation Society-India (WCS-India) have explored how such community knowledge can offer fresh insights into the lives of the endangered carnivores and the challenges of human-wildlife coexistence.
The findings suggest that people who share landscapes with dholes possess detailed knowledge of their movements, pack sizes, hunting strategies, vocalisations and interactions with other animals. Their experiences can also help researchers locate elusive packs and complement conventional wildlife monitoring.
The first study, titled ‘Local Ecological Knowledge offers opportunities to study and monitor elusive carnivores in coexistence landscapes’, covered Wayanad in Kerala and Valparai in Tamil Nadu. Researchers conducted 476 interviews with residents, plantation workers and Forest department personnel to document dhole sightings, habitat use, pack sizes and interactions with livestock, domestic dogs and other carnivores. It was authored by Pooja Saravanan, Sabiya Sheikh, Mayank Shukla, Jonathan Edward de Rozario and Arjun Srivathsa.
The information offered a broad picture of dhole activity across protected forests, reserve forests and agroforests. Reported pack sizes were broadly consistent with findings from earlier ecological studies. In Valparai, an informant network helped researchers locate dhole packs and collect more than 30 hours of video footage documenting their behaviour.
Interestingly, despite frequent encounters in tea plantations, livestock attacks were infrequent. Many respondents said dholes generally avoided people. However, interactions with domestic dogs were reported more frequently, pointing to potential competition and risks of disease transmission between wild and domestic canids.
The second study, ‘The hunting god: Vernacular knowledge on Asiatic wild dogs blends ecological insights with folklore in a shared agroforest landscape of India’s Western Ghats’, focused on the cultural and ecological relationship between people and dholes in Valparai. This study was authored by Avantika Sharma, Vigneshwaran AK, Pooja Saravanan and Arjun Srivathsa.
Based on interviews with 89 community members, including tribal settlement residents and plantation workers, the researchers documented accounts of coordinated hunting, pack communication, vocalisations, diet, breeding periods and habitat use.
The findings also revealed how people perceive the animals. While close encounters sometimes evoke fear, respondents generally described dholes as wary of humans and inclined to keep their distance. Some expressed admiration for their agility, hunting skills and teamwork, while others recalled stories portraying them as protectors or even as kin to people and domestic dogs.
However, researchers found that traditional knowledge and folklore associated with dholes may be fading. Older respondents recalled stories and cultural practices that were increasingly unfamiliar to younger generations.
The studies underline the importance of recognising local communities as valuable contributors to wildlife research. Such knowledge can help scientists understand elusive species while documenting cultural relationships that might otherwise disappear.
India holds the world’s largest population of dholes, among the most threatened large carnivores globally.
