A Lively Litter

The Asiatic wild dogs, found on the northwest side of the Great Rock, surprised us once again with a new litter—this time, five pups were born at the end of March. Throughout April and May, they mostly stayed hidden in the den prepared by their parents, so they were rarely seen. By June, however, they had grown enough to move around more and now spend most of their time outside the den, in parts of the enclosure that are easily visible to the public. Like the adult members of the pack, they tend to rest during hot weather, but they are usually more active in the early morning and late afternoon, shortly before closing time. The youngsters spend a lot of time playing, though they still need plenty of rest.

With the addition of the new litter, our dhole group now includes nearly two dozen individuals. They are most impressive to watch during feeding demonstrations. These demonstrations are part of our daily “Be There!” experience program and take place every morning at 10:00. The exact species featured changes daily. The day’s schedule is posted on the board in front of the India House. In addition to the dholes, feeding demonstrations are regularly held for the lions, tigers, Persian leopards, red pandas, and the manul (also known as Pallas’s cat).

Asiatic wild dogs (Cuon alpinus) are also called red dogs, sometimes red wolves, or dholes. The name “dhole” comes from the Kannada language spoken in southern India. Thanks to the English author and poet Rudyard Kipling, the term became known internationally as one of the names used for the species. In Kipling’s famous short story collection The Jungle Book, the dholes—referred to as the “Dekkani dholes”—are also mentioned.

The Asiatic wild dog is not only native to India but is also found in China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. They live not only in tropical forests but also in mountainous regions, even at altitudes as high as 5,000 meters. They are therefore well adapted to areas where winters can be cold and snowy.

Unfortunately, their wild populations are declining. This is a serious problem, as they play an important ecological role as predators. Experts estimate that only a few thousand adult, breeding individuals remain in the wild. For this reason, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the species as Endangered on its Red List. Coordinated breeding programs in zoos are helping support the survival of the species—and our Zoo is also part of this effort.

We have been keeping dholes in Budapest since 2008, when the first breeding individuals arrived. The first pups born here came into the world in 2009. Since then, litters have been a regular occurrence at our Zoo. Most of the pups eventually move to other zoos that are also part of the breeding program. Dholes born in Budapest have gone on to live in places around the world—from the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, USA, to the Berlin Zoo and even as far as Novosibirsk.

The enclosure for our dholes is located on the northwest side of the Great Rock. It was renovated in 2024 with support from the Zoo Foundation. We are grateful for this support—on behalf of the dholes, too!