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Other Wildlife Attractions
These forests are a treasure trove of wildlife. Kanha
National Park is home to as many as 22 species of large
mammals commonly found in the Park, and almost 300 species
of birds. Sightings of a common langur (long-tailed
monkey), jackal, wild boar, chital (spotted deer), sambar
(Indian stag) and blackbuck are not unusual. However, the
Indian porcupine, sloth bear, hyena, jungle cat, leopard,
chausingha (four-horned antelope) and nilgai (blue bull)
are very elusive. Other sightings, such as those of the
tiger, gaur (Indian bison), dhole (Indian wild dog),
muntjac (barking deer), hare and mongoose need patience,
time and luck.
The Predator Population Supports The Eco-system
In an ecosystem, the key indicators of the vitality of the
system are the predators. A thriving predator population
in a forest is indicative of an abundance of the prey
species (like deer), and of the entire food chain. Kanha
Tiger Reserve has a variety of predators of all sizes,
both from the cat family (like tigers and leopards) as
well as from the dog family (like jackals, wolves and wild
dogs). The tiger is the largest predator here, capable of
killing the mighty gaur (Indian bison). The fierce leopard
is usually nocturnal and very elusive, so much so that a
leopard sighting is even more rare than that of a tiger
despite the fact that leopards outnumber tigers. Among the
small cats, Kanha National Park is home to the jungle cat
and ratel that feast on small mammals, birds, eggs,
lizards and carrion.
The Deadly Dhole
The dog family is also well represented in Kanha Tiger
Reserve. The Indian fox, the jackal, the striped hyena and
the dhole (Indian wild dog) are common in the Park. The
dhole is perhaps the most misunderstood of all these
predators. All predators kill to survive, but the dhole
has a reputation of being a bloody killer. What has earned
the dhole this reputation is the way in which it kills.
Almost all other predators kill in terrain that has some
cover. The dhole is a coursing predator that kills mostly
in open terrain. It hunts in packs, (up to 40 dholes can
form one pack) that synchronize their attack. The pack
splits into two; one group chases the prey, flushing it
towards the other half of the pack. The dhole pack runs
after its unfortunate prey, biting off flesh from the
animal until it falls. What follows the chase is not a
pretty sight either. The prey is usually large, and since
the dhole lacks the killing bite of the large cat, the
only way to kill its prey is by biting off chunks of meat,
thereby bleeding the animal to death. Large dhole packs
can kill animals as big as the gaur (Indian bison), and
incidents have been reported where a pack was able to kill
a tiger.
All this had made the dhole a very dreaded predator. Until
25 years ago, it was seen as a pest and falsely accused
for being responsible for the decline in the number of
deer. It carried a bounty on its head and was
indiscriminately killed. But fortunately, the dhole is now
protected under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act that
forbids the hunting of this animal. More research is being
done on the dhole, and for the first time, the focus is on
the softer side to this animal. |
