The Endemic Ethiopian Wolf

 

In the video, the well-known German documentary filmmaker attempts to locate and film some of the world’s rarest and most endangered species. This time, Andreas Kieling encountered the extremely rare Ethiopian wolves, 400 kilometers southeast of the capital, Addis Abeba. Here extends the largest contiguous alpine landscape of the entire African continent – the Balé Mountains. This national park is considered a hotspot for rare species. Andreas Kieling accompanied Argentine biologist and wolf specialist, Claudio Sillero-Zubiri from the “Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme“.

 

ETHIOPIAN WOLVES

 

Distribution

 

Ethiopian wolves are very localized endemics confined to Afroalpine pockets in the highlands of Ethiopia. Habitats suitable for wolves extends from above the tree-line at about 3,000m up to 4,500m, but subsistence agriculture reaches up to 3,500-3,800m in many areas, restricting wolves to higher ranges.

 

The surviving populations are confined to a few mountain ranges in Gondar, Wollo, Shoa, Arsi and Bale Regions (see map). The largest population is found in the Bale Mountains National Park in the southeast. Remnant populations occur in the Simien Mountains, Mount Guna, North and South Wollo, Menz, all north of the Rift Valley, and in the Arsi Mountains to the south. Recently extinct in Gosh Meda (North Shoa), and absent from Mt Choke, Gojjam, where it was reported until early this century.

 

There are no recent records of the species at altitudes below 3,000m, although specimens were collected at 2,500 m from Gojjam and northwestern Shoa at the beginning of the century. Reports in the Simien Mountains exist since the species was first described in 1835.

 

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Endangered Ethiopian Wolf

 

The Fabulous Ethiopian Wolf

Natural habitats in Eastern Africa are under threat from a rapidly increasing human population and from the accompanying demands for space, agricultural produce, and economic gains from commercial and industrial exploitation.

Wild animals may also cross-breed with domesticated species, which can alter their genetic make-up and thus affect their status as a species. Ethiopia, for example, is witnessing the hybridization of the Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simiensis) with domestic dogs (EPA/MEDC 1997). The Ethiopian Wolf is the most endangered canid in the world.

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Threatened species in East Africa

 

Country	Mammals	Birds	Reptiles	Amphibians	Fishes	Inverts	Plants	Total
Burundi	5	7	0	0	0	3	2	17
Djibouti	4	5	0	0	0	0	2	11
Eritrea	12	7	6	0	0	0	3	28
Ethiopia	34	16	1	0	0	4	22	77
Kenya	51	24	5	0	18	15	98	211
Rwanda	8	9	0	0	0	2	3	22
Somalia	19	10	2	0	3	1	17	52
Uganda	19	13	0	0	27	10	33	102