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This
beautiful and unique animal that is also referred to as the
Indian or Asiatic wolf, once ranged from the Middle East across
Asia. It is smaller than its counterparts in Northern Europe
and America. It stands 66-81 cm. tall at the shoulder, length
of body between 100-150 cm. and they weigh between 12 to 80
kg. (Males are larger than females). Their specific signs
are: small body size, large ears. Habit of hunting small animals,
and the fact that they apparently seldom howl.
The sub-species
that lives in Iran have short pale (gray with darker shadows)
color with little or no undercoat of fur that helps them to
blend into the semi-arid landscape that they call home. It
seems that we can find another species (Campestris)
in Iran.
Distribution
& Range:
The
habitat of wolves in Iran includes dense forests, open plains
and desert regions. As a result, there are many physical and
behavioral differences among individual populations of Iranian
wolves. Wolves living in drier, harsher climates show adaptations
to their environment such as their small body size, hunting
individually or in pairs, and the habit of eating rotting
fruits to quench their thirst. Iranian wolf populations living
in less harsh climates have larger prey available to hunt
and as a result are slightly larger, and hunt in bigger packs.
In Iran,
it is seen in most regions (almost 80%) of the country including:
Khorasan, Hamedan, Khoy (Mrakan), Zanjan, Kordestan, Tehran
and Shiraz (bamu national park). It seems that wolves from
Khorasan province are smaller than wolves in Kordestan.
Diet:
Iranian
wolves prey on a variety of animals including Gazelle, hares,
mongooses, rats, squirrels, domestic animals, and ground birds
such as partridges, quails, jungle fowl and lapwings. They
have even been seen hunting animal more than 3 times there
own size, like deer, mountain sheep and Wild Boar.
Behavior:
Wolves
live in packs of 5-15 and prowl mainly at night. The pack
is governed by a dominant pair. Mating occurs during winter
and only one female per pack reproduces. Usually 3-5 cubs
are born. Both male and female look after cubs until they
are 6 months old. Life span of the wolves is between 16-20
years in captivity, and 8-15 in the wild.
Population
Decline:
No
good estimates exist as to how many wolves might have lived
in Iran in the early 1900's. However, researchers are certain
that their numbers have decreased dramatically over the last
century. It is hard to tell exactly how many wolves remain
in the wild areas of Iran, but it seems that their population
most be less than 1000.
Due to overhunting,
the use of poisonous bait, decrease in the number of prey,
traps etc., their numbers have decreased to the point that
is some regions of Iran they have completely disappeared.
Today, surviving
Iranian wolves have retreated to less than desirable lands
to escape encroaching human populations. Native prey populations
have also decreased alarmingly due to human subsistence hunting.
Many wolves in these areas have turned to scavenging and visiting
local dumps to avoid starvation. Others have turned to preying
on plentiful livestock that they share their habitat with.
Only in February 1998 one shepherd from Sarab (east Azarbaijan
of Iran) killed 7 starving wolves that attacked his livestock.
Villagers who kill the wolves were sentenced to light fines
under environmental laws.
Just
like the Arabian wolf, the Iranian wolf is threatened by
interbreeding with domestic dogs, as well as habitat loss
and being killed by humans (It is classified as a game species
in Iran and threatened by persecution).
Recovering
Iranian Wolves:
Although
the range of Canis lupus pallipes crosses the borders of several
countries, but it was not never an international effort to
protection this animals. In January1977 since the population
of wolves in Iran was decreased during the last 10 years as
the result of over hunting, Iran protected its wolf population,
but it's not clear what happened to this law after the Islamic
Revolution since 1979.
Today,
some foreign researchers (like WCSRC) are focusing on realistic
ways to save the Iranian wolf. They understand that in order
to prevent this subspecies from becoming extinct, it will
be necessary to work with the local villagers and livestock
owners.
Iranian
wolves at the WCSRC:
In
1975, a researcher came across four orphaned Iranian wolf
pups to WCSRC
(Wild Canid Survival and Research Center), located in St.
Louis, Missouri . They were found in a cave in Iran after
their parents were killed by villagers. The young wolves were
raised under the auspices of the Iranian Department of the
Environment until they were six months of age. Since 1975
as a result of few zoos having Iranian wolves, efforts for
breeding these wolves with other captive Iranian wolvesÝwas
ultimately not successful. The WCSRC currently has two male
Iranian wolves. Both are old and will not be incorporated
into a captive breeding program during their lifetime. The
WCSRC is the only facility in the United States that houses
Iranian wolves.
Wolves
in Iranian history:
Origins
of wolves in Iran, back to thousand of years ago and from
that time till now, it always has been considers as a harmful
animal! . If we divide the history of Iran in two main part
of before and after Islam, wolves always have been viewed
by Iranians as a threat.
Since
so many surviving Iranian wolves are forced to share their
habitat and their prey source with villagers, this situation
make another tragedy too. The game director of Iran, Rashid
Jarnsheed, a U.S. trained biologist, in the book "Big Game
Animals of Iran", states that for over a thousand years, wolves
have been reported to attack and kill humans. They grow bold
in wintertime, when game is scarce, and will enter a town
in broad daylight to attack people, with many cases of wolves
running off with small children.
News about
Wolves in Iran:
-
Dec. 29/1997
-
According to AFP report dated Tehran, a starving wolf seized
a four-year-old boy in Dushab village near the city of Qazvin,
dragged him to the wilderness, and devoured parts of his
body. Locals reported seeing increasing numbers
of wolves close to the village.
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Feb. 20/1998 - A shepherd in East Azarbaijan Province
was fined Rls, 1.400.000 for killing seven wolves, re-ports
said. The case against the shepherd was by the local chapter
of the Environmental Protection Organization (EPO) which
stated that a person cannot arbitrarily embark on destroying
wildlife. The shepherd from Quq village said that a calf
in his herd had been killed as a result of an attack by
wolves, so he laced the dead animal with poison and used
it as a bait to kill the killer wolves.
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