This study aim to describe bacterial community in the distal gut of dholes (Cuon alpinus) based on the analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences.Fecal samples were collected from five healthy unrelated dholes captured on Qilian Mountain,locating at Gansu province of China.The diversity of fecal bacteria was investigated by constructing PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene clone library.Bacterial 16S rRNA gene was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with universal bacterial primers 27 F and 1493 R.A total of 275 chimera-free near-full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences were analyzed,and 91 nonredundant bacteria phylotypes (operational taxonomical units,OTUs) were identified according to the 97% sequence similarity.61.5% of OTUs showed less than 98% sequence similarity to 16S rRNA gene sequences reported previously.Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the bacterial community comprised five different phyla,with the majority of sequences being classified within the phylum Bacteroidetes,followed by Firmicutes,Fusobacteria,Proteobacteria,and Actinobacteria.Bacteroidales and Clostridiales were the two high diverse bacterial orders in fecal samples.The only order Bacteroidales in phylum Bacteroidetes was the most abundant bacterial group.