Hey, it’s Vlad. We had a very special guest come visit us in our habitat yesterday. It was Danny the dhole. Danny is in town to celebrate world dhole day. JABCECC will be at @myyardlivebeerco in San Marcos on Sunday June 2 to educate people about the dhole and their conservation needs. I’m pretty sure Danny will be in attendance.
I took this opportunity to ask Danny a few questions about dholes. They are known to be highly intelligent canids, but honestly I found him to be a bit two dimensional. He seemed to suffer from flat affect, but he could have just been nervous. He was no doubt aware that I’m a pretty big deal, so it is no surprise he would have a bit of the jitters. Here are some highlights from our conversation.
So Danny, tell me a bit about dholes. Sure Vlad, dholes are found in central and Southeast Asia. We are very endangered with perhaps only 1-2 thousand left in the wild. We are very social canids that can be found in large packs. Sometimes in order to take down very large prey or to protect we will combine together with other packs creating a group that can have over thirty of us. We have unique vocalizations which is the reason some will call us whistling dogs. While we are closer related to domesticated dogs, wolves and coyotes than to foxes, we are still evolutionarily quite removed from them, separating from that branch millions of years ago. We are actually closer related to the African painted dogs. Very interesting Danny, Now I want to really get a view into your psyche so please answer to following question. If you were a vegetable, which would you be and why? Well Vlad I would have to say a rutabaga because much like dholes not everyone knows what they are. Interesting Danny, I would have bet money would would have said a pineapple…you know dole pineapple. Ha ha Vlad, that is the oldest joke in the dhole community and technically a pineapple is a fruit anyway. The leaves of a pineapple plant would be a vegetable Danny. Sure Vlad but who’s gonna eat the leaves? Have you ever tried them Danny? That’s all I’m saying. Anyway hope to see everyone on the 2nd.
Vlad out