Dholes and the jungle – TATR

[Subhash Shrivastava]

Canon SX60 HS, 1/60, f/5, 20 mm, ISO-100. Cropped from top, bottom & right for presentation and to remove overexposed sky.

Clicked in TATR core, after getting down from Jamun Bodi area, on 28-Jan-2015. I expected to see them in groups of 20+. In TATR, they are becoming rarer by the day, now seen not more than 3 to 4 in a group, if at all seen in a group. In TATR, their decline is the most perceptible phenomenon.

There was this male in its splendid coat of fur, in shiny shades of Brown to white. He was busy searching the ground and was following a female. All of sudden they took a big loop around us, appear behind my gypsy and then the 3rd member also came to the road. This picture also depicts the typical TATR jungle-scape.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Good image. The depth of field gives a nice feel about the habitat. The dhole on the left has remarkable white hairs on chest and throat, not commonly seen. That it is a male, as stated is incidental as the hairs become white with age in these parts of the body, as far as I know. Thanks for sharing. SaktiWild

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice scene. I enjoy watching dholes as there is never a dull moment around them...always on the move and mostly excited. Did u check with anyone why their numbers are falling in TATR??

Like the display of habitat. wud been nice if you cud get the dholes a little further up on the track from a composition angle.

TFS
Roopak

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice you got all the three dholes looking back at you. I think there was a slight movement, using a higher ISO and shutter speed would have helped to get more details. The long winding jungle track looks nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I haven't seen a dhole with such white hairs. It looks like as if someone has painted in a straight line.

Dholes are playful and that is the secret of their bonding.

[Subhash Shrivastava]

Dear Sakti da, Roopak, Mrudul and Sabya sir, Thanks for viewing the image and providing the valuable feedback .
I had taken a wide image in which dholes were quite small, and have cropped it to bring them forward as well as to get rid of sky. I could have done a better job, will keep the learnings in mind next time. When I was taking this image I was thinking about the jungle, the path and the Dholes.

Roopak sir, most likely it may be disease or inbreeding or both, as poaching or habitat loss (local) is ruled out in TATR. The were seen in groups of 20+ now the max size is 5.

Sabya sir, the male was very remarkable for its colors and shine. It was quite near for along time, about 5 mins. We saw it very close and this guy was indeed very healthy and handsome. I have some close images of the Male.

[Bhargava Srivari]

Nice feel to the image; I like the fact that you included habitat to show the long winding forest track. I am afraid the days of seeing 20+ dholes together are all but gone. The last time I saw so many together was in 2009 in Bandipur (it was a pack of 32 dogs) , and the largest group I saw recently is of 7 in Kabini. However, I remember a friend telling me about seeing 14 in the Kolsa area of TATR, but that too was in 2012.

[Shyamala Kumar]

Lovely image. The alert inquisitiveness of the predators is well captured.Like the depth of field showing the long winding forest track and the all encompassing rich greenery.