Highly social, the dhole lives in packs that can sometimes be very large (more than twenty individuals), led by a dominant pair. Unlike wolves, more than one female can reproduce if her place in the hierarchy allows it; they will raise their young together. All members of the group take great care of the newborns: they feed them by regurgitation, watch over them, clean them and play with them. At around three months old, the young begin to follow the adults on their hunts.

Dholes hunt small prey alone but gather in groups of up to 30 to capture deer or banteng: when one of the dholes spots one, it attacks and pursues it, relayed by its fellow dholes, or directs it towards other members of the group waiting in ambush. Large packs can even harass a tiger in order to steal its prey! Good swimmers, they can corner their prey in the water.

Despite its physical appearance, the dhole is not a fox! Although it lives somewhat like them, it is not a wolf either! A few distinctive features classify it in its own genus, Cuon, notably its dentition. While most canids have 42 teeth, the dhole, like the African wild dog, has only 40: with one less molar in its lower jaw, it has a shorter muzzle, which increases the jaw pressure of this outstanding hunter!

Although he does not bark, he has a repertoire of varied cries: growls, chuckles, yelps, whistles and even squeaks.

The dhole population is extremely fragmented and declining at an alarming rate due to the degradation of their natural habitat, diseases transmitted by domestic animals and poisoning by human populations. The expansion of agricultural areas is leading to the destruction of forests and, as a result, a decline in the dholes' prey. Increasing contact with livestock and dogs also exposes them to all kinds of deadly diseases (rabies, distemper, etc.).

Long persecuted, the dhole has been protected in India since 1972, but its situation remains very worrying. India and Nepal, by creating reserves dedicated to the protection of tigers, are enabling dholes to survive in these last strongholds.

The pack at Réserve zoologique de la Haute-Touche has been one historical ones in captivity in Europe.

The original pack, created in 2004, consisted of five females from the Netherlands and two males from Germany. In the first year of breeding, the dominant pair gave birth to a litter of four pups. The following year, nine pups were born from three different litters.

These births enabled the Reserve team to deepen their knowledge of this species, which had been little studied at the time. They learned that dholes have a reproductive behaviour that differs from that of wolves: several females high up in the hierarchy can reproduce, not just the dominant female.