Dhole returns to Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong area

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on May 23 that dholes had returned to the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape, citing camera-trap records, direct sightings and a newly confirmed pack in 2026. He said the endangered Asiatic wild dog had once ranged across the forests before fading from the landscape, and linked the return to habitat protection and corridor conservation. The claim follows a 2025 peer-reviewed study by Wildlife Institute of India researchers that reported the first camera-trap evidence of a dhole in the area in decades. The development puts fresh attention on a predator that is far less visible than Kaziranga’s better-known rhinoceroses, elephants and tigers. ### What exactly was reported on May 23? May 23 was the date Sarma publicly described the dhole’s return to the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape as a conservation success. In a post on X cited by Indian news outlets and a PTI report, he said the record had moved from “a lone camera trap image in 2022” to direct sightings and “confirmation of a pack in 2026.” (devdiscourse.com) PTI reported from Guwahati on May 23 that the animals had returned “in larger numbers” after that lone image four years earlier. India Today NE, also reporting on May 23, said wildlife experts were continuing to monitor the species in the landscape. ### What is a dhole, and why is this species notable? (devdiscourse.com) The dhole is the Asiatic wild dog, known scientifically as *Cuon alpinus*. The Journal of Threatened Taxa paper says the species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and under Schedule I of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The Hindu, citing the Wildlife Institute of India study, reported in June 2025 that the dhole had been believed locally exterminated from the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape. (devdiscourse.com) WII’s Ruchi Badola told the newspaper that dholes require large, undisturbed forest habitats and that their presence underscored the importance of conserving the corridor system linking habitats in the region. (threatenedtaxa.org) ### Where was the animal documented? The 2025 Journal of Threatened Taxa study reported photographic evidence from the Amguri corridor in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape. The paper said researchers conducted reconnaissance surveys across four identified corridors — Panbari, Haldhibari, Kanchanjuri and Amguri — and reported the dhole from Amguri. The Hindu reported that the 2022 study effort photo-captured the dhole on six occasions in the Amguri corridor. (thehindu.com) That landscape, the study says, lies within the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. ### How new is this return? June 26, 2025 was the publication date of the WII-led paper titled “First camera-trap evidence of Dhole … from the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape, Assam, India.” The paper said the species had been previously extirpated from the landscape, making the image record a first confirmed camera-trap record there. (threatenedtaxa.org) May 23, 2026 added a newer claim beyond that paper: Sarma said the evidence had advanced from the single 2022 image to direct sightings and a confirmed pack in 2026. (thehindu.com) That specific pack confirmation was presented by the chief minister in public remarks reported the same day. ### Who documented the earlier evidence? (threatenedtaxa.org) The 2025 paper was authored by Mujahid Ahamad, Jyotish Ranjan Deka, Priyanka Borah, Umar Saeed, Ruchi Badola and Syed Ainul Hussain of the Wildlife Institute of India. The article was published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on June 26, 2025. The Hindu quoted Badola, the dean of WII’s Faculty of Wildlife Sciences, saying the finding highlighted the ecological value of the corridor in supporting threatened species. (devdiscourse.com) Her comments tied the dhole record to broader corridor protection for other animals including tigers, leopards and elephants. ### What comes next in this story? (threatenedtaxa.org) May 23 reporting did not include a new scientific paper on the 2026 pack, but it did point to continued monitoring in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape. The next verifiable milestone is likely to come from either a formal wildlife department release or a new scientific publication documenting the direct sightings and pack confirmation Sarma described. (devdiscourse.com) (thehindu.com)