note on 'dhole'

[Gabor Sandi]

>        I agree that that is what the usual supects say, on the linguistics
>side, but on the biology side, all my sources agree that wolves do not occur
>in south India, and therefore in the Kannada area.  (Why is not entirely clear
>to me.  They did not spread from China into SE Asia either.  Dislike of
>tropcal heat?)  Therefore there is something not quite right here.

>Dr. David L. White

Could the Dravidian word refer to a different carnivore?

Your question is very interesting: why have wolves not penetrated south
India or SW Asia? It can't be just the heat - north India (where there ARE
wolves) can be as hot as any place on this earth in the summer, as I know
from experience (48 degrees in May/June are not unusual in New Delhi, for
example). Maybe it's the humidity they don't like, or there are carnivores
who thrive better than wolves in the year-round humid heat.

Gabor