The Wonders of Ethiopia...

So there are possibly a few things that come to mind when one thinks of Ethiopia. However curiosity has lead me to spend a lot of time looking into and researching one of their rarest creatures. The Ethiopian wolf doesn't look much like a typical wolf, they aren't grey or black but resemble more fox colours.

Ethiopian Wolf Pups

The wolves have been declining over the years and there are roughly only 500 left in the world in small groups scattered over Ethiopia.

There are various groups trying to help these wolves such as the Born Free Foundation. One way they are trying to help these wolves are by finding ways to protect them from rabies. The local dogs are passing illnesses to these animals which are killing them off. Rabies being such a contagious disease has caused the numbers to decline dramatically. These wolves have also been found shot and worse where the humans are protecting livestock. The habitat is also disappearing where humans are trying to give themselves more land and also because of this increase in land it has been found that hybrid wolves have come into existence. It seems this is mostly just in one area at the moment.

Ethiopian Wolves Social Behaviour

It pains me to hear about animals like these that a lot of people haven't even heard of are needing drastic help to survive. Of course it isn't just animals, insects and birds as well. Wolves have always had superstition and myths surrounding them, especially the grey wolf. In so many myths the wolf is seen as a bad omen, and of course other things have come from that such as stories of werewolves which are common theme at this time of year. The grey wolves that run wild still are under threat by farmers who wish them all to be very much dead. Yet we all keep dogs, including those farmers and would we really have dogs to play with and cuddle at home if it wasn't for these magnificent animals?

The Ethiopian wolves are less known by many but yet are so beautiful. There is on-going conservation work to help these beautiful creatures and I hope so much that they will be saved. I want to go out there and watch these animals at some point, I wish to study more about them and plan to. Animals as beautiful as these should be saved.