Indian Dhole -2: Wild dogs live to kill

Travel With Me Series

By Mukta Shivanand*

It was a cold and cloudy winter morning at B R Hills. The sun was not yet up. At the Wilderness Camp of Jungle Lodges and Resorts, we were ready and waiting to begin our forest sojourn. The previous evening had not been very successful or exciting. We wondered what was in store today.

Also read: The Indian Dhole Story

The first hour got us fully awake with the sunrise and cold, pure air. We sighted a large number of Gaur – big and small – happily grazing near the road that leads into the forest. The birds were chirping, the monkeys and langurs playing.

Then we were inside the forest and the roads were muddy and bumpy, the foliage denser with large trees and thick undergrowth. Suddenly we heard alarm calls and the driver cum naturalist Narayan stopped the jeep near a water body and indicated that we all keep absolutely silent. He pointed in the 2 o’clock position.

There, about 20 to 30 metres from us was a pack of ten wild dogs, all very alert and searching the surroundings. Wild dogs are a rare sighting and we felt really lucky to have seen them.

Suddenly the pack took off with a howl. We saw that they were running towards a Sambar that was grazing peacefully at some distance. Before the sambar became aware of the presence of the wild dogs three of them pounced on the unsuspecting victim and brought him down. The pitiful cries of the sambar broke the silence of the forest. The other wild dogs quickly followed suit jumping on the fallen sambar killing it.

They then began tugging at the body of the victim and pulling out huge chunks of flesh and retiring to a safe place to eat it. The dogs kept running up and down devouring the poor sambar. Within minutes only the skeleton of the victim remained. The wild dogs dispersed happily, being fully satiated by the feast they had.

They now inched closer to the water body for a nice cool drink to wash down their breakfast.

Gory this might be, but this sighting and experience is something that exhilarates all wild life enthusiasts.

We thanked our lucky stars for this extra-ordinary experience and reluctantly proceeded further into the forest for some more adventures.

*Mukta Shivanand is a former Journalist, women entrepreneur, master trainer and a management consultant. She is a cancer victor, 3 time grandmother and now majorly involved with wildlife, conservation issues and the solo navigator of Khoj India Road Treks She and her husband have self-driven over 110,000 Kms on Indian roads. They have visited over 23 National Parks in India.