
A couple of boisterous two-month old pups playing on a frosty morning! (Photo by Will Burrard-Lucas)
I came upon the website of cool wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas and he had some great photos of Ethiopian wolves. I enjoyed learning more about them as they are a beautiful animal.
Here are five interesting facts about them:
- The Ethiopian wolf is the only wolf to be found in Africa.
- They live in packs of up to 15 animals, but unusually for wolves, they hunt alone.
- They almost exclusively eat very small prey, especially big-headed mole rats, grass rats and hares.
- They give birth to 2-6 pups at a time. The pups are born without teeth and with their eyes closed over, but they grow up very quickly.
- The Ethiopian wolf is endangered, with less than 450 left in the wild. They are the rarest species of dog in the world and the rarest carnivore in Africa. Their range is limited to a few mountains in remote Ethiopia.
Will Burrard-Lucas, the photographer who took the picture of the pups above, has released a book to raise money towards saving this beautiful and unique species. If you would like to help, you can buy the book here.
I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.
Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about Ethiopian wolves?
Hello Hayden. Excellent blog! Thank you for helping raise awareness for these endangered animals.
– Will Burrard-Lucas
Very inspiring to follow these connections through the web and end up here – nice job Hayden!
Actually, it’s not the only wolf in Africa. The golden jackal could be argued to be a “true wolf”, as it is genetically closer to the grey wolf than the Ethiopian wolf is (look up “canid phylogeny”). Also, in 2011, it was proven that the grey wolf itself does live in Africa. So really, there are three wolf species in Africa.
Thanks for this extra information Shah, it sounds as though you know a lot about wolves.
your blog is awesome
Thanks Joseph
I am from Ethiopia! I didn’t know Ethiopian wolves before. Thanks, also Great Job!!!
those are some interesting facts thanks