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| Ethiopian Wolf | ||||||||||||||
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| Canis simensis Ruppell, 1840 | ||||||||||||||
 Ethiopian Wolf range (OBS: Contrary to this map, its range does not extend into E. Sudan). |
The Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) is a small, reddish, fox-like wolf. It is one of the rarest and most endangered of all canids. It is also known as the Abyssinian wolf, red jackal, red fox, Semien fox (or jackal) and in Amharic it is called ተኵላ, täkʷula ("wolf") or ቀይ ቀበሮ, qey qebero ("red fox"), and in Oromo, jedalafardaa ("horse\'s jackal"). The numerous names reflect previous uncertainty about its taxonomic position, but it is now thought to be related to the wolves of the genus Canis rather than the foxes it superficially resembles. Recent molecular evidence even seems to indicate that the Ethiopian wolf is a descendant of the Gray WolfGottelli et al 1994[citation needed]. This means that the Ethiopian wolf is the only true wolf in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is found in the Afro-alpine regions of Ethiopia, about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level. Only about seven populations remain, totaling roughly 550 adults. The largest population is found in the Bale Mountains in southern Ethiopia, although there are also smaller populations in the Simien Mountains in the north of the country, and in a few other areas.
They feed on Afro-alpine rodents, particularly African mole rats and Abyssinian grass rats (one study found that 96% of their prey were rodents[citation needed]). They will however also take small antelopes such as reedbuck, the calves of larger antelope (such as the Mountain Nyala), as well as hares and hyraxes. Ethiopian wolves are diurnal.
The Semien Mountains.
When feeding on rodents Ethiopian wolves tend to hunt alone, but they are territorial, social canids that form packs and defend territories. The pack, which numbers up to a dozen adults with a skewed sex ratio of several males per female, patrols and defends the territory.
The Oromo people of southern Ethiopia call the Ethiopian wolf the "horse\'s jackal" because of its reported habit of following mares and cows that are about to give birth in order to eat the placenta.
Claudio Sillero-Zubiri at the University of Oxford is the zoologist most closely associated with efforts to save this species of wolf, particularly with his work for an oral rabies vaccine to protect them from the disease passed from local dogs. His work is supported by the Born Free Foundation. A rabies outbreak in 1990 reduced the largest known population, found in the Bale Mountains National Park, from about 440 wolves to less than 160 in only two weeks.
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