Native Ethiopian wolves were threatened by loss of habitat mainly due to an ever-depleting number of prey, an Ethiopian wildlife expert has warned.
Girma Ayalew, the wildlife health and research expert at the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, told Xinhua recently that not more than 500 Ethiopian wolves remain in their shrinking and increasingly fragmented habitat on top of the Ethiopian highlands.
The Ethiopian wolf, also known as Red Jackal, was endemic to Ethiopia.
Its population was restricted to just six isolated enclaves in the Ethiopian highlands, more than 3,000 meters above sea level, the expert said.
According to the expert, the largest Ethiopian wolf population with up to 250 individuals is found in the Bale Mountains National Park in southern Ethiopia while about 150 others live in the Semien National Park in northern Ethiopia.
“The Ethiopian wolf feeds on mountain rodents.
“Human interference involving expansion of settlement and agricultural land against their habitat has resulted in the loss of their prey, the rodents, leaving for the wolves little to eat,’’ said Ayalew.
The endemic Ethiopian wolf lives in packs, each consisting of 12-14 wolves and a female wolf has a gestation period of five months and delivers 4-6 pups.
Ayalew, noting that the pups often have a low survival rate.
Naturally, there is only one breeding pair in a pack, and other female and male wolves in the same pack are not eligible for mating, the expert elaborated.
The alpha female, usually the mother of the pack, was entitled to be the only mother in the pack throughout her life as long as she is physically fit and not harmed.
The expert said having only alpha females and less probability for pups to grow also negatively affected the wolf population in the eastern African nation as adult wolves must leave the pack in case they resort to mating.
“Dog disease such as rabies is another potential threat for the survival of the most endangered Ethiopian wolf,’’ said Ayalew.
Ayalew recalled that the disease had killed at least half of the wolf population in Bale National Park six years ago.
Ayalew said households living closer to the wolves’ habitat often have a number of dogs, which frequently went wild and sometimes mate with the wolves.