Continuous loss of habitat due to high-altitude subsistence agriculture represents the major threat to Abyssinian Wolf. Sixty percent of all land above 3,200 m has been converted into farmland, and all populations below 3,700 m are particularly vulnerable to further habitat loss, especially if the areas are small and of relatively flat relief. Habitat loss is exacerbated by overgrazing of highland pastures by domestic livestock, and in some areas habitat is threatened by proposed development of commercial sheep farms and roads. Human persecution triggered by political instability in the past is currently less severe and is associated to conflicts over livestock losses. Recent population decline in Bale is mostly due to disease epizootics, with road kills and shooting as secondary threats. Rabies is a potential threat to all populations. Most of these threats are exacerbated by the wolves’ specialization to life in the Afroalpine ecosystem.

In Bale the Ethiopian wolf hybridizes with domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Gottelli et al. (1994) used mitochondrial DNA restriction fragments and microsatellite alleles to conclude that hybridization was relatively common in western Bale as a result of crosses between female wolves and male domestic dogs. Hybrids have shorter muzzles, heavier-built bodies and different coat patterns. Although hybrids are confined to the Web Valley in western Bale they may threaten the genetic integrity of the wolf population. Following hybridization, a population may be affected by outbreeding depression or reduction in fitness, although to date this does not seem to have taken place in Bale. To date there is no indication of hybridization taking place outside western Bale.

Conservation Actions:

The species is not included on the CITES Appendices. It has full official protection under Ethiopia’s Wildlife Conservation Regulations of 1974, Schedule VI. Killing a wolf carries a sentence of up to two years.

The Ethiopian Wolf occurs in several protected areas: Simien Mountains National Park; Bale Mountains National Park; Hunting blocks in Arsi; Denkoro State Forest in South Wollo; Guassa Community Management in North Shoa.

A number of important steps have been taken in the interests of conserving this endemic species, including: 1. a dog vaccination campaign in Bale, currently extended to Wollo; 2. sterilization programme for domestic dogs and hybrids in Bale; 3. vaccination of wolves in parts of Bale affected by rabies; 4. community and school education programme in Bale and Wollo; 5. strengthening the capacity of the Bale Mountains National Park – funding patrolling, maintenance of infrastructure, etc.; 6. surveys to determine the persistence and status of all populations of wolves; 7. monitoring of all wolf populations, 8. Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Strategy Workshop, Bale Mountains, November 1999, with representatives of national, regional and local governments and international scientists (Sillero-Zubiri et al. 2000); and 9. establishment of the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Committee within Ethiopia as a national steering committee for dealing with conservation issues.

Find out more here: IUCN Redlist