Hokkaidō Wolf
| Hokkaidō Wolf | |
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| Canis lupus hattai | |
| Conservation status | |
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Extinct (1889)
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | Canis |
| Species: | C. lupus |
| Subspecies: | C. l. hattai |
| Trinomial name | |
| Canis lupus hattai Kishida, 1931 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Hokkaidō Wolf, known in Japan as the Ezo Wolf (エゾオオカミ（蝦夷狼） Ezo Ōkami, Canis lupus hattai), is one of the two extinct subspecies of Canis lupus that have been called the Japanese Wolf. The other is the Honshū Wolf.
This endemic wolf of Japan occupied the island of Hokkaidō. The Hokkaidō Wolf was larger than the Honshū Wolf, more closely approaching the size of a regular Gray Wolf.
The Hokkaidō Wolf became extinct during the Meiji restoration period. The wolf was deemed a threat to ranching (which the Meiji government promoted at the time) and targeted via a bounty system and a direct chemical extermination campaign. Hokkaido experienced significant development during this period and the Hokkaidō Wolf also suffered from resulting environmental disruption.[2]
Sightings of the Hokkaidō Wolf have been claimed from the time of its extinction to the present day, but none of these have been verified (see cryptozoology).[3]
[edit] See also
- Hokkaido (dog), a new dog breed that is based on the Hokkaidō Wolf[citation needed]
- Shikoku Inu, a dog breed that was a version of the Hokkaidō Wolf[citation needed]
The Ezo wolf was a distinct subspecies, and had a more traditionally wolf-like appearance than its southern cousin, the Honshū wolf. The skull was large and formidable, with long, curved canines, and the body dimensions were similar to that of grey wolves. The Ezo wolf was typically grey in coloration, and significantly larger than the wolves of Honshū. Like the Honshū wolf, the Ezo wolf descended from Siberian wolves from the Asian mainland, yet the Hokkaido subspecies retained a size closer to these large ancestors.
[edit] References
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Wikispecies has information related to: Canis lupus hattai |
- ^ Wozencraft, W. Christopher (16 November 2005). "Order Carnivora (pp. 532-628)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=14000738.
- ^ Brett L. Walker, "Meiji Modernization, Scientific: Agriculture, and the Destruction of Japan's Hokkaidō Wolf," Environmental History, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2004.
- ^ Hall, Jamie (2005). "The Cryptid Zoo: Japanese Dwarf Wolf (or Shamanu)". http://www.newanimal.org/japwolf.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
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