How this comic strip aims to give dhole the attention it deserves

The comic strip titled, What Da Dog Doing? by Dev Anand. Pics courtesy/@thedholeproject

The apex predator Asiatic wild dogs, commonly known as dholes, may look like dogs, but, to our surprise, they are neither dogs nor wolves. These reddish-coated animals belong to a different genus, and are actually closely related to the African wild dog. Yet, their resemblance to familiar canines is one reason they often go unnoticed.

For researcher Dev Anand, who works with The Dhole Project, based out of Bengaluru, making people look twice at the species has become part of his work. This time, he's devised an avenue using a four-panel comic. The comic book looks at his research that takes him across the Western Ghats, where the team collects faecal samples from protected areas and nearby territorial forests to study dhole populations, movement and conflict.

The comic strip comically follows a dhole questioning a researcher about how its faecal samples are collected and used to understand individual animals, their populations and even their stress levels. The four-panel strip offers a humorous glimpse into the fieldwork and science behind dhole conservation

Analysing the DNA from these samples, helps researchers identify individual dholes and estimate their populations, while the same samples can reveal clues about their diet and stress levels. This mix of fieldwork, laboratory research and the everyday realities of studying dholes became the inspiration for Anand's comic.

The comic, titled What Da Dog Doing?, however, began almost accidentally. "Alongside the research we do here, I wanted the comic to be very specific to the work of conservation biologists and ecologists. The strips bring the forest, laboratory work and everyday details of conservation research into the same frame," Anand says.

The visual style has a familiar influence. Anand describes the comics as "unapologetically derivative of Calvin and Hobbes, the famous newspaper comic strip created by Bill Watterson," borrowing its four-panel format and drawing style. "I also carried the comparison into the characters, replacing the famous tiger plushie with a dhole and coloured the animal so readers would not mistake it for a dog," explains Anand.

Dev Anand

The comic also became a way of presenting science without removing its specificity. Dholes are difficult to identify individually in the field, unlike tigers, whose markings can help researchers tell them apart. Their scat, therefore, becomes a source of information: DNA can distinguish individuals, while the same samples can reveal diet and stress.

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Why a comic?

Dholes are a bit smaller in size and are not as easily recognisable. Despite being apex predators that play an important role in maintaining herbivore populations, unfortunately, they do not have the same mainstream attention. The comic is an attempt to give them some. - Dev Anand

Spot the Dhole

>> Western Ghats - Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra

>> Central India - Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

>> Eastern Ghats - Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

>> Northeast India - Assam and Arunachal Pradesh

>> Himalayan region - Sikkim and parts of the eastern Himalayas