Dholes are effective when hunting in packs and can kill a 110 pound deer in less than 2 minutes with just 2-3 hunters.
Dholes are quite effective as predators when hunting in packs and have been referred to as “natural born killers” and “dogs that kill better than cats”. One of the keys to the dholes’ hunting ability is its pack size and flexibility.
Dholes have the ability to tackle large and dangerous prey like sambar deer, boar, and gaurs – wild bovines that can weigh 50 times more than a dhole. Sambar are extraordinarily hardy, yet are literally eaten alive by these dogs before being killed. Two to three dholes can kill a 50 kilogram, (110 pound,) deer in less than two minutes.
Dhole have also been witnessed stealing kills from tigers and even killing the big cat.
Sources: (Chacon, 2000; Daniel, 2014; Hance, 2015)
Image: Tambako the Jaguar
