Dholes in Folklore, Mythology, Literature and Popular Culture
Three dhole-like animals are featured on the coping stone of the Bharhut stupa dating from 100 BC. They are shown waiting by a tree, with a woman or spirit trapped up it, a scene reminiscent of dholes treeing tigers. Dhole-like animals are described in numerous old European texts, including the Ostrogoth sagas, where they are portrayed as hell hounds. The demon dogs accompanying Hellequin in Mediaeval French passion plays, as well as the ones inhabiting the legendary forest of Brocéliande, have been attributed to dholes. The dangerous wild canids mentioned by Scaliger as having lived in the forests of Montefalcone could have been dholes, as they were described as unlike wolves in habits, voice and appearance. The Montefalcone family's coat of arms had a pair of red dogs as supporters.
Dholes appear in Rudyard Kipling's Red Dog, where they are portrayed as aggressive and bloodthirsty animals which descend from the Deccan Plateau into the Seeonee Hills inhabited by Mowgli and his adopted wolf pack to cause carnage among the jungle's denizens. They are described as living in packs numbering hundreds of individuals, and that even Shere Khan and Hathi make way for them when they descend into the jungle. The dholes are despised by the wolves because of their destructiveness, their habit of not living in dens and the hair between their toes. With Mowgli and Kaa's help, the Seeonee wolf pack manages to wipe out the dholes by leading them through bee hives and torrential waters before finishing off the rest in battle. They would reappear in two animated television adaptations: Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli and Jungle Cubs.
In an episode called "Alpha" in season six of The X-Files, a cryptid dhole from China is blamed for multiple killings. This dhole (Wanshang dhole) is also mentioned in the Angel episode That Vision Thing. Both episodes were written by Jeffrey Bell.
Read more about this topic: Dhole, Relationships With Humans
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