Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary (KARN), Thailand
Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary (1,079 km2; 13°00–32'N, 101°02'–102°37'E), is located in eastern Thailand in the junction of five provinces: Chachoengsao, SaKaeo, Chonburi, Rayong, and Chanthaburi. The sanctuary encompasses hills with elevation ranging 30-150 m, covered in secondary dry evergreen and dry deciduous forests, with open grasslands in the lowlands. It encompasses the last remaining lowland rainforest in Thailand. Precipitation averages 1,220 mm per year. The study site is representative of the majority of the protected areas in Thailand – an island of forest surrounded by densely populated and well-developed lands.
Our main study area is highlighted here in red. Around the border areas of KARN there have been no recently reported direct killing of dholes by villagers (K. Jenks, unpublished interview data), and the only natural sympatric competitors, tigers and leopards, are thought to be extirpated from the sanctuary. Sambar (Cervus unicolor) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac), both major dhole prey and grassland habitat selectors, are common in the area.