Dog chasing Sambhar, Kudremukh National Park

DV Girish


DV Girish

Chosen as 'Picture of the Week'

We receive several images of domestic / feral dogs attacking wild prey. These dogs, from human settlements in or around wildlife habitat, not only deplete wild prey populations, but also increase the potential for pathogen transmission to wildlife.

This is an image I took of domestic dogs chasing a sambhar fawn in Singsara river in Kudremukh National Park.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that India alone is home to 25-30 million domestic dogs. When such high numbers of dogs include even a small amount of wildlife in their diet, collectively they can have a serious impact.

Dogs also harbour several diseases that can be deadly not only to humans (such as rabies) but to wild carnivore species as well. Dogs are known to transmit diseases such as canine distemper virus (CDV) and canine parvovirus (CPV).

Courtesy: A Dogged Problem.

Also see other articles on CI how domestic / feral dogs are a threat to wildlife.

(Visited 580 times, 1 visits today)

About the author

DV Girish
DV Girish is a veteran conservationist who was recently conferred the ‘Protect the Tiger’ award by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for his life-long commitment towards protecting Karnataka’s Bhadra Tiger Reserve and its surrounding landscape in the Western Ghats.


Comments

Leave a Reply