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Extinct or extant? A review of dhole (Cuon alpinus Pallas, 1811) distribution in the former USSR and modern Russia

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Abstract

Dholes (Cuon alpinus Pallas, 1811) are carnivorous mammals classified as endangered according to the IUCN Red List. The northern boundary of the dhole range lies in Russia, but its current status there and in post-Soviet states is classified as “regionally extinct.” Moreover, most publications on dhole distribution in the former Soviet Union are only available in Russian. In this review, I summarize Russian-language sources of dhole distribution in the former USSR and modern Russia. I have created a database of all evidence regarding the capture and killing of dholes, as well as information about encounters with individuals/packs or their traces. Based on these data, I estimated the probability of extinction for the Tian Shan and Ussuri subspecies of dholes (C. alpinus hesperius and C. alpinus alpinus, respectively) using an approach based on a Bayesian model, Optimal Linear Estimation, and Sighting Trend Index. My review verifies that dholes were already extremely rare animals in the USSR in the first half of the twentieth century. The most recent proved report of dhole presence in Russia dates back to 1978, while the most recent data, for which there is no documentary evidence, was collected in 2009. Within the borders of the former USSR, the Tian Shan subspecies of dholes is probably already extinct (the probability that the subspecies is extant is 0.02; the null hypothesis that extinction has not occurred can be rejected with p = 0.057). The Ussuri subspecies possibly still exists in the Eastern Sayan Mountains and in the mountains of the Transbaikalia (p = 0.182, the probability that the subspecies is extant is 0.50).

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  1. Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya str., 3 а, Moscow, Russia, 111123

    Marat Makenov

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Communicated by: Justin G. Boyles

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Supplementary information for this article contains a GIS database (Excel file) of dhole distribution in Russia. (XLSX 31 kb)

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Makenov, M. Extinct or extant? A review of dhole (Cuon alpinus Pallas, 1811) distribution in the former USSR and modern Russia. Mamm Res 63, 1–9 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-017-0339-8

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