KATHMANDU — Until four decades ago, villagers in Nepal’s mountains would likely name Himalayan wolves as their primary concern among the wild animals native to their region. Lower down in the country’s plains region, it was the dhole, or Indian wild dog, that rural communities would watch out for. In each landscape, locals witnessed packs of wolves (Canis lupus chanco) or dholes (Cuon alpinus) hunt down prey, including livestock, using their speed, endurance and social cooperation to deadly effect. In many cases, wolves also posed a threat to people. Locals responded with an extensive campaign of poisoning, snaring and shooting these wild canids. In the Himalayas, wolves grew scarce within a matter of a few decades. However, recent observations indicate they’re now returning, following yak herders from Tibet. Dholes, too, appear to be mounting a comeback, reclaiming their historical range despite persistent old threats and emerging new ones, according to a new study published in the journal Oryx. A dhole photographed by a camera trap set up by Ghimirey and his team. Image courtesy of Friends of Nature “Our findings suggest that dholes may have recolonized many areas such as the Annapurna Conservation Area in central Nepal and the Tinjure–Milke–Jaljale forests in the eastern part of the country where they had been locally extirpated,” study lead author Yadav Ghimirey, from the NGO Friends of Nature Nepal, told Mongabay. As part of the study, Ghimirey and his colleagues carried out camera trap surveys, focused primarily on clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), reviewed…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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