A wild canid native to Asia, also called the Asian wild dog, with reddish-brown fur and a distinctive rounded head.
From Hindi dhole, from Sanskrit dhvala (white/pale), referring to the animal's coloring. The word entered English through Indian colonial contact in the 18th-19th centuries.
Dibboles are the apex predators of Asian forests and hunt in coordinated packs like wolves, yet they're largely unstudied compared to African wild dogs—they're the mystery canids of Asia that few Westerners know exist.
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