Previously thought to be an independent species, the Hokkaido wolf was classified as a subspecies of the gray wolf by Japanese archeologist Kyukichi Kishida in 1931.
The wolf held a unique position among several Japanese tribes, like the Ainu tribe that identified the wolf with the deity. London for 1935, pt. Like the Honshu wolf, the Ezo wolf descended from Siberian wolves from the Asian mainland, yet the Hokkaido subspecies retained a size and appearance closer to these large ancestors. Another look at wolf taxonomy. The races of Canis lupus. if (rect.top <= 0){ adElem.style.position = ''; Mech, L David (1970) "The wolf: the Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species", published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press, pages 352-3, Evolution of the wolf#Into America and Japan, "Reconstruction of the extinct Ezo wolf's diet", "Phylogenetic analysis of extinct wolves in japan", "Meiji Modernization, Scientific: Agriculture, and the Destruction of Japan's Hokkaidō Wolf,", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hokkaido_wolf&oldid=976137128, Species made extinct by deliberate extirpation efforts, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Taxidermied Ezo wolf at Hokkaido University Museum, This page was last edited on 1 September 2020, at 11:11. The Japanese wolf would have been competed by those bears of Japan including the Ussuri brown bear of Hokkaido and Asian black bear of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. [12] It stood 70–80 cm at the withers. The Hokkaido wolf (Canis lupus hattai) is a subspecies of Gray Wolf. The Honshu wolf was identified in 1839 as the gray wolf subspecies Canis lupus hodophilax by Dutch zoologist Coenraad Temminck.It was also known as the Hondo wolf, the yamainu, and the mountain dog.
Dun began his work at the Niikappu ranch with a mass-poisoning campaign involving the use of strychnine-laced baits. DIET Zool. adElem.style.height = rect.height + 'px'; When conducted on the bone of an extinct specimen, it informs researchers about the diet of the specimen. Later, explorers to the Kuril islands of Iturup and Kunashir believed that the wolves they saw there were the Japanese subspecies. American Committee for International Wildlife Protection, Special Publication No. Many biologists believe that because of its small size … [18], The range of the Ezo wolf was the Hokkaido and Sakhalin islands,[19][11]:p42 Iturup and Kunashir islands just to the east of Hokkaido in the Kuril archipelago, and the Kamchatka peninsula. Since its extermination, there have been several reports from people claiming to see the animal. These estimates indicate that Ezo wolves colonized Japan more recently than Japanese wolves from the Asian continent during the last glacial period via a land bridge with Sakhalin Island, which existed up to 10,000 years ago. Common Names: Sakhalin wolf, Ezo wolf In 1935, Pocock examined one of the specimens in the British Museum that had been obtained in 1886 and named it Canis lupus rex because of its large size. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. It was surviving in Sakhalin island and perhaps the Kuril Islands in 1945. The owners took to killing these carnivores using strychnine poison since they posed a direct threat to their livestock. adElem.style.zIndex = '2147483647'; Hokkaido wolves are direct descendants from the mainland Siberian wolves.
A large number of deer starved to death in 1878 because of a heavy snow, having a great negative affect on the Ezo Wolf. Their coat was usually light grey to tannish grey in color, with dark guard hairs running along their back. adElem.style.position = 'fixed'; This dog is very intelligent and trainable, but he can be difficult to handle at times which makes him a good choice for experienced dog owners. They once occupied the japanese island of Hokkaido, Russia’s island of Sakhalin and Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Kuril islands.