Howletts Welcomes The Arrival Of Dhole Litter

Last month Howletts Wild Animal Park welcomed the arrival of an adorable litter of 12 dhole pups. The pups made their debut in May just in time for half term and are proving to be amongst the most popular tourist attractions at the park.

The pups are now nine weeks old and recently took advantage of the warm weather to take their first steps with keepers reporting that all the pups are having a jolly good time in their enclosure.

Ben Warren of Howletts says the pups have grown both in size and confidence and really enjoy playing with one another and annoying the adults. Park visitors should have no problem spotting the pups in their enclosure.

Dholes are actually a species of wild dogs from Asia and have a gestation period of roughly nine weeks. Each litter ranges from between 4 to 10 pups and once they stop weaning are fed and cared for by the rest of the pack. The dogs have a varied and unusual vocal range, communicating with one another through a series of barks, whistles and squeeks.

Ben went on to add that a litter of 12 healthy pups that are active is fairly unusual and handlers think that the existing pack has split into two with a single dominant male and two dominant females.

Howletts said over the half term break there are lots of activities taking place each day including a number of self guided trails as well as some interesting educational talks with the opportunity to watch the animals feed