28th May World Dhole Day

What is a dhole, I hear you say. I'd never heard of one when I read about this day. 

A dhole is a medium-sized canine that lives in most of southern Asia. This species is more endangered than tigers, leopards, or Asian elephants. Yet, this elusive canine is unheard of! At present, there are less than fifty zoos that house dholes in the world. These animals are misunderstood and often seen as a pest. The occurrence aims to make people care about these creatures for their intelligence, uniqueness, and their own language as they whine, whoop, and whistle! The Dhole is listed as CITES II, meaning their trade is banned worldwide.

Dholes are only about the size of a border collie. Depending on their habitat, these wild dogs vary in colour from charcoal grey to rust red to sandy beige. They have a long, brushy, fox-like tail that often has a black tip. They usually have a white belly, chest, and feet. Adults have rounded ears and a pointed snout.

And as you can guess this is not a topic to read about in books. Books about them are hard to find. Here's two that might be in your library.

A fun activity might be to give students books about animals, mammals or wild dogs and get them to see if 'dhole' appears in the index.

Seeing how similar they are to other members of the canid family, I began to wonder, do the other canines have days of their own. Although commonly referred to as a "wild dog," the dhole is not a true dog. Its closest relatives are the painted dogs of Africa and the bush dogs of South America.The different types of wild dogs are generally divided into  coyotes, foxes, wolves, jackals, dingoes, and other canids. 

Coyote Day is on the 23rd March.

Fox Day is on the 17th September.

International Wolf Day is on 13th August.

World Jackal Day is 19th April.

And, the poor dingo doesn't have an 'official' day. What a shame!