It was almost getting late in the evening as we drove through the forests. A pale pink hung over the mountain ridges, while the greens were slowly turning brown. We had some close encounters with the elephants during our Wildlife Safari, as we spotted a family that was blocking our path, while we patiently waited for them to cross the road.

A tusker brushed past us, angry that we were intruding its space. We continued driving in silence, hoping for another encounter, but the trees appeared bare and the forests had become quiet. The sun had set, and it was time to return to the resort.

As we were driving back following the winding tracks, we detected a small movement behind a bush. We stopped and a barking dog came towards us. Just as we shook our heads in dismay and started the jeep, another movement in a neighbouring bush caught our attention.

The barking dog had probably disturbed a few other creatures lurking close by. And striding towards us was an alpha male, the leader of a pack of Wild Dogs or Dholes. Surveying the scene were other Wild Dogs.

A Dhole: Leader of the Pack!

For a moment, there was pin drop silence. We wondered if the Dholes would chase and tear apart the local dog, which was now silent and seemed rather frightened.

A Pack of Dholes

We watched them for a moment and took some photographs, while the dog beat a hasty retreat as we drove past.

Lakshmi Sharath

Lakshmi Sharath is a media professional and a travel writer. She has written for several publications including in flight magazines and local newspapers. She has been a travel blogger for the last 4 years and her blog, A travel blog of an Indian backpacker is very popular.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 at 4:41 pm and is filed under Carnivore, Mammal, Predators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.