CreatureData

Dhole

Cuon alpinus (Pallas, 1811)

ENEndangeredmammals

The dhole (Cuon alpinus) is a mammal of the family Canidae in the order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, diurnal, terrestrial carnivore whose main foods include chital, sambar, wild boar, water buffalo and carrion.

Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Photo: Davidvraju · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the dhole

Adults weigh 14.17 kg, up to 15.75 kg; gestation lasts 61.5 days, litters have 4.3 young, and sexual maturity comes at 1 year. The IUCN Red List assesses the dhole globally as Endangered, a threatened category.

Weight
14.2 kg – 15.8 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
16 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
asian elephant, barasingha, bos gaurus, bos javanicus, boselaphus tragocamelus, carrion and 34 moresrc for Main food
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Gestation
60 days – 62 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
4.3src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.05src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the dhole

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Rohit Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Davidvraju · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Rajanna · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Ashwin Viswanathan · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Ashwin Viswanathan · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
Ashwin Viswanathan · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
santhoshk · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the dhole live?

Not recorded

What is the dhole?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The dhole ( dohl; Cuon alpinus) is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. The sole member of the genus Cuon, it is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus Canis in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third lower molar, and the upper molars possess only a single cusp as opposed to between two and four. During the Pleistocene, the dhole ranged throughout Asia, with its range also extending into Europe (with a single putative, controversial record also reported from North America) but became restricted to its historical range 12,000–18,000 years ago. It is now extinct in Central Asia, parts of Southeast Asia, and possibly the Korean Peninsula and Russia.

The dhole is a highly social animal, living in large clans without rigid dominance hierarchies and containing multiple breeding females. Such clans usually consist of about 12 individuals, but groups of over 40 are known. It is a diurnal pack hunter which preferentially targets large and medium-sized ungulates. In tropical forests, the dhole competes with the tiger (Panthera tigris) and the leopard (Panthera pardus), targeting somewhat different prey species, but still with substantial dietary overlap.

It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as populations are decreasing and estimated to comprise fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. Factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss, loss of prey, competition with other species, persecution due to livestock predation, and disease transfer from domestic dogs.

From the Wikipedia article “Dhole” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dhole&oldid=1382396461), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the dhole endangered?

The dhole is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the dhole classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCarnivora
  5. familyCanidae
  6. genusCuon
  7. SpeciesCuon alpinus (Pallas, 1811)

Synonyms Canis alpinus, Cuon alpinus alpinus, Cuon alpinus infuscus, Cuon alpinus javanicus, Cuon javanicus, Cuon lepturus

Other names and names in other languages (73)
  • Asian wild dogEnglish
  • Asiatic wild dogEnglish
  • Asiatic wild dogEnglish
  • Chinese dholeEnglish
  • Indian dholeEnglish
  • Indian wild dogEnglish
  • Indian wild dogEnglish
  • Mountain wolfEnglish
  • Red dogEnglish
  • Red dogEnglish
  • Tien Shan dholeEnglish
  • Asiatiese WildehondAfrikaans
  • كلب احمرArabic
  • كلب الدولArabic
  • كلب بري آسيويArabic
  • كلب بري هنديArabic
  • ৰাংকুকুৰAssamese
  • Чырвоны воўкBelarusian
  • Азиатско диво кучеBulgarian
  • রামকুত্তাBangla
  • Cahnieclt
  • DhoulCzech
  • dhoul sibiřskýCzech
  • dhoul sumaterskýCzech
  • dhoul ťanšanskýCzech
  • RothundGerman
  • Der AlpenwolfGerman
  • RotwolfGerman
  • Ασιατικό ΑγριόσκυλοGreek
  • Perro Salvaje AsiáticoSpanish
  • PunahuntEstonian
  • سگ وحشی آسیاییPersian
  • VuorisusiFinnish
  • viidakkosusiFinnish
  • Cuon d'AsieFrench
  • Chien sauvage d'AsieFrench
  • જંગલી કુતરોGujarati
  • דהולHebrew
  • Ázsiai vadkutyaHungarian
  • ázsiai vadkutya (dól)Hungarian
  • AjagIndonesian
  • CuonItalian
  • Cane rossoItalian
  • Cane selvatico asiaticoItalian
  • Cuon alpinoItalian
  • ドールJapanese
  • წითელი მგელიGeorgian
  • Қызыл қасқырKazakh
  • ಕೆನ್ನಾಯಿKannada
  • 승냥이Korean
  • Raudonasis vilkasLithuanian
  • रानकुत्राMarathi
  • SerigalaMalay
  • Asiatisk VillhundNorwegian Bokmål
  • Aziatische Wilde HondDutch
  • Cyjon rudyPolish
  • Cão-selvagem asiáticoPortuguese
  • Raposa-asiática-dos-montesPortuguese
  • ДхольRussian
  • Красный волкRussian
  • Asiatisk vildhundSwedish
  • செந்நாய்Tamil
  • இந்திய செந்நாய்Tamil
  • రేచుకుక్కలుTelugu
  • భారతీయ అడవి కుక్కTelugu
  • หมาในThai
  • Asya yaban köpeğiTurkish
  • Куон гірськийUkrainian
  • Червоний вовк гірськийUkrainian
  • 豺Chinese
  • 亞洲豺犬Chinese
  • 紅狼Chinese
  • 豺狗Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the dhole

Other species in the same genus Cuon.

CompareDhole vs Cuon stehlini

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is a dhole?

The dhole is a mammal in the family Canidae, order Carnivora. Other English names for it include red dog, Asian wild dog and mountain wolf.

How heavy is a dhole?

An adult dhole weighs 14.17 kg, with values up to 15.75 kg reported. This places it in the medium size class.

What does a dhole eat?

The dhole is a carnivore. Its main foods include chital, sambar, wild boar, red deer, goral, hare, carrion and fruit.

Is the dhole endangered?

Yes. The IUCN Red List assesses the dhole globally as Endangered (EN), a threatened category.

How long does a dhole live?

The dhole has a lifespan of 16 years, with values up to 16.1 years reported.

How many young does a dhole have?

A dhole has 4.3 young per litter and 1.05 litters per year, after a gestation of 61.5 days.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Dhole (Cuon alpinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dhole

MLA

“Dhole (Cuon alpinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dhole.

BibTeX
@misc{dhole_2026,
  title = {Dhole (Cuon alpinus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dhole},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}