Ethiopian wolf conservation
Conservation focus:
Ethiopian wolf
Scientific name:
Canis simensis
IUCN status:
EDGE status:
EN (endangered)
Score 1.0, Rank 421 / 585 mammals
Threatened evolutionary history:
2 million years
Scientific classification:
Mammals, Carnivora, Canidae
Why support?
This conservation programme is exemplary in many ways. It demonstrates effective protection of a super-rare EDGE species along with numerous other endemic plants and animals of the unique Afroalpine habitat. It also extensively involves locals in a variety of functions. These are both essential for running the programme and for generating much-needed income for local communities. Locals also benefit from the one-health concept governing the approach of EWCP, for example through introducing routine rabies and distemper vaccination of domestic dogs, a disease reservoir threatening the focal species. When we started our support in 2005, we soon realized that the threat from recurring rabies and canine distemper outbreaks was a key issue. More than once it triggered an emergency donation. Currently this problem is mitigated through an oral vaccination programme for the Ethiopian wolves, but other risks for the species remain or increase, notably human encroachment.
Population trend
Stable
Conservation attention
High
Range
Ecological role
Apex predator in the Bale and Simien mountains ecosystem. Key regulator of Afroalpine rodent populations.
Threats
Rabies and canine distemper spread by domestic dogs, habitat fragmentation through human encroaching, road-kills, retaliation killing
Grant
First awarded:
$ 49,700 (since 2006)
27 October 2006
Score 1.0, Rank 421 / 585 mammals
Grant focus
Secure populations through addressing threats, especially diseases
Programme owner
EWCP, WildCRU, University of Oxford, UK
Programme contact
Prof. Claudio Sillero
Project location
Ethiopia
Dinsho park, Robe, Ethiopia
Addressing the need: Project goals
Addressing the threats to Ethiopian wolves and their Afroalpine habitat through awareness, habitat protection, supporting livelihoods, and science-led approaches to managing disease. The vision of EWCP (Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme) is to secure Ethiopian wolf populations and habitats across their present distribution, and to extend the species range.
The Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) is one of the rarest canids in the world. It lives in the Afroalpine habitat of Ethiopia's highland belt, where it specializes on endemic rodents as key prey. In the breeding season 2020-2021, the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program (EWCP) teams have monitored 34 Ethiopian wolf packs in 6 populations across Ethiopia, counting 182 individual wolves with high confidence. This means monitoring around half of the global population of this endangered species, a significant achievement unparalleled among any other endangered carnivore. Another 67 packs are estimated to occupy the rest of the habitat, leading to an overall estimate of 450 adult or subadult wolves across all Ethiopia in 2020-2022.
EWCP fights the threats to Ethiopian wolves and their Afroalpine habitat through awareness, habitat protection, supporting livelihoods, and science-led approaches to managing disease. Its vision is to secure Ethiopian wolf populations and habitats across their present distribution, and to extend the species range, stressing its role as a flagship for the conservation of the Afroalpine ecosystem on which present and future generations of Ethiopians also depend.
Conservation actions
1wild supports this work with a grant for the ongoing challenge of rabies control, which benefits both the Ethiopian Wolf and the Ethiopian farmers native to this fragile ecosystem.
