Canis simensis

 

 

Ethiopian wolf

 Sarah Axén

The Canis simensis has a lot of names, Abyssinian wolf, Simien fox, Simien jackal, Ethiopian jackal, Horse's Jackal or red jackal, but the most common name is Ethiopian wolf. For about 100 000 years ago, during the last ice age the wolves migrated from Eurasia to the highland of Ethiopia. When the glaciers melted the wolves were remained. The wolves couldn’t travel any further down because on the other side of the mountain, there was only desert. So the wolves were isolated and today are the Ethiopian wolves very rare and endangered. You can only find this kind of wolves in Ethiopia and there are about 500 of them. Over 50% of the total population lives outside the protected areas. Canis simensis is the rarest canid in the world and is listed by IUCN (International Society for Nature Conservation). They occur in a region known as Afro-alpine, which comprises eleven small areas in the mountains above 3000 m in Ethiopia. The highest concentration of wolves is found in the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP). They prefer habitat as Euryops-Alchemilla shrub land, mima mounds and Festuca grassland. Nine of the small areas are outside the protected area, and include the Guassa area of Menz. They occupy all three main habitats in the Guassa area.

 

 

They are similar to coyotes in size but have characteristically long legs, smaller teeth and a long, pointed muzzle. Their body colour is reddish brown with white undersides. Their tail is white at the base and black at the tip. The males are larger than the females. They are diurnal and spent about 67.5% of the daylight foraging. The rodents comprise 88% of their main diet. The majority of the rodents are the giant mole rat. In areas with a high density of mole rats, there are more wolves than in an area with a low density. Digging is the favours way of catching the mole rat. Other diets are the Sheep’s wool, Stack’s hares and sometimes carrions.

Other wolf species living in a covey hunt in packs, but the Ethiopian wolf hunts alone. They are very social for a canid and live in large, close-knit packs of 6-13 individuals.

 

In National Geographic Sweden 3/2006, you could read about Deborah Randall and her research team from Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP). It is a long-termed project started by Oxford University and the Ethiopian Government to maintain the wolf population. Deborah Randall says that is much easier to assemble data since the end of 2003, after a rabies epidemic. They vaccinate, marked and gave some wolves radio collars and after that they have a better control of the wolf population and can make a better work. With help of GPS, it is easy to get information about the different packs, their location, activity, their habitat and the vegetation height. When a young wolf are old enough to find an own pack, they knew exactly to where, which pack and if the wolf reproduce itself.

 

 

This is a very threatened canid and this population is highly unstable and may become extinct at any time. There biotope gets smaller and smaller because of the usage of this area as field and pasture. How ever the activities of wolves change very little in presence of humans or cattle. The presence of cattle can even sometimes be positive, the grazing livestock can provide a hide when they hunt for rodents. It has though been observed that wolves in human dominated landscapes outside the protected areas foraging at night or feeding more on carrion. The availability of food can of course decrease in presence of human disturbances. Other factors that can affect the population are diseases like the rabies. If a wolf meets a dog, catch an infection and after it is easy for other wolves to get the infection. I think the most important thing to do in this case is to be aware of this problem and that something really happens. Now, the works to protect the wolves are in right direction, but it is not enough, it is needed to be more. I think the best is to maintain their biotope and stop the farmers to use it as a field and pasture for their grazing animals. As you have read hear, wolves can be affected by humans and their livestock. And you can also read that livestock sometimes is a hide for the wolves when hunting but at the same time their prey can increase. Reproduction with domestic dog, so called hybridisation is also a factor to the survival of this species. Another problem is the inbreeding, which is very common in small populations. The wolves can also be disturbed by the cars and machine, sometimes even killed by them. So if the farmers are kept away with their livestock and dogs, I think that it is much easier for the wolves to survive. That would give the wolves more space and that can increase fights between the packs.

 

 

 

 

 

References:  

Zelealem Tefera Ashenafi, Tim Coulson, Claudio Sillero-Zubiri and Nigel Leader-Williams, 2004, Behaviour and ecology of the Ethipoian wolf (Canis simensis) in a human-dominated landscape outside protected areas

National Geographic Sweden, 3/2006, Vargarna i Etiopien – de sista av sitt slag

http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Canis_simensis/more_info.html

http://www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=15