Page 29 - Dog
P. 29

INDIAN OR CHINESE?                                               Dark red coat
                      The dhole, or red dog, is a social hunter (pp. 18–19)
        Rounded ears   with some characteristics like the African hunting
                        dog, although apart from the rounded ears, they do   Long,
                          not look at all alike. Neither of these canids will   bushy
                          interbreed with domestic dogs. The Chinese   tail
                          dhole has a thicker, darker coat than the more
                            southern Indian dhole.




                                                                             Chinese dhole









         Tawny-
         colored
         coat





                                        Indian dhole                   Tail is darker
                                                                       color than
                                                                       rest of coat
                                                                                                   ON TOP OF THE WORLD
                                       White variety of coat shows                      The Tibetan fox lives on the high, icy-cold
                                         this dog has been bred in                    plateaus of Tibet above 12,000 ft (4,000 m).
       Tail is short,                                                                          It has a very thick, furry coat to
       relative to its                       captivity for its fur                                  keep it warm and long,
       body length                                                                                       slender jaws for
                                                                                                           pulling small
                                                                                                            rodents out
                                              Short, sharply                                                   of their
                                              pointed                                                         burrows.
                                              muzzle







       Raccoon dog
       in winter coat
           WHEN IS A RACCOON NOT A RACCOON?
        The raccoon dog (above and right) has this name
        because it looks similar to a raccoon. It is a chubby
        canid with a short tail and a very thick, fine coat of
        gray-black and white fur. Because the coat is highly
        valued by fur traders (pp. 12–13), the raccoon dog
       has been bred in captivity in many countries. In the
       U.S.S.R., captive animals were allowed to go free and
         are now living as wild populations (pp. 36–37)
              which are spreading westward.

                                Short, erect ears
                                rounded at top

                           ONE LITTLE INDIAN
                            The Bengal fox is like
                             a small red fox. It
                              lives on open   Black
                              grasslands and   facial                                            True
                              scrub in India and   mask,                                        raccoon
                              digs its own dens.   like that                             of North and South
                              Like all foxes it   of a true                            America belongs to the
                              hunts rodents,   raccoon                               Procyonidae
                             lizards, and other                  Raccoon dog        family
                           small animals.
                                                                   in dark
                                                                 summer coat

                                                            2
                                            (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.
   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34