Observation of Dhole (Cuon alpinus) at Sungkai Wildlife Reserve, Perak, Malaysia

Sungkai Wildlife Reserve (SWR) was gazetted as a wildlife reserve in 1937 with a total area of 2468 ha of lowland dipterocarp forest. It is located at the western part of Perak, one of the 35 protected areas under the management of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) (Figure 1). For the past 20 years many studies and few inventories have been conducted in SWR. Among them were on the ecology of the Sambar Deer (Mohammad Zulfikar et al., 2001), the breeding programme of pheasants (Sahir, 1998, 2001), inventory of fish (Mohd-Sham et al., 2001), population study of the Little Spiderhunter (Siti Hawa et al., 1991), bird ringing programme (Siti Hawa et al., 1990), and latest inventory carried out in 2009. However, there were no documented reports on the existence of Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in SWR. It is reported that Dhole occurs in Peninsular Malaysia (Francis, 2008) particularly in Taman Negara (Kawanishi & Sunquist, 2008), Krau WR and northern part Peninsular Malaysia. (Copied from article)