Reproduction and behaviors
In the Bale Mountains,Ethiopian wolves mating do occur between August and November. This is a period in which the receptive periods for females are locally synchronized. Illustratively, the courtship of the Ethiopian wolves predominantly involves a dominant male getting acquainted with a female constantly (Paul, Sikes, Beaupre & Wingfield, 2016). The female will be discouraging attempts from other males except for the dominant male in the pack. The gestation period is between 60 and 62.
Notably, Ethiopian wolves are family-oriented. Illustratively, these Ethiopian wolves are grouped into extended family members comprising all the males born in the previous years and more than one female. In the breeding season, the courtship between differently located packs frequently occurs because of the habitat saturation and increased potential for inbreeding among closely related packs. These interactions are vocal in which smaller packs will escape to larger ones.
Adult wolves are always in charge of helping raise the puppies. After the wolf mothers give birth in
the den, they will dig up burrows. The pups will be shifted from one hole to
another to keep them safe from any attack. Significantly, when it comes to
taking care of the puppies, the subordinate females may make a key role in
keeping the pups safe. The full adult appearance is attained once the puppies are two years of age.
Reasons for their decline
In Africa, Ethiopia has a rapidly growing population. When it comes to the Ethiopian highlands, the rapid changes taking place create a challenging situation for the Ethiopian wolves and other endemic species. Because of the montane ecosystem, the Ethiopian wolves’ socialization is becoming rare and declining in the population.
This is because of the following reasons:
Habitat loss
Ethiopian highlands
continue to remain an attractive place for people across the globe because of
the high rainfalls and fertile soil. Sadly, the increased pressure due to the
expanding human population has pushed communities to engage in other sources of livelihoods. The human encroachment has led to the destruction of Ethiopian wolves habitats. Most of the lands have been transformed into agricultural lands, being that the area is climatically suitable for plants and the survival of Ethiopian wolves.
Diseases
Globally, the wild canids are probe to pathogens being transmitted from domestic dogs that are many in the Ethiopian highlands. Significantly, rabies is the most common pathogen and considered to be deadly (Greggor, Vicino, Swaisgood, Fidgett, Brenner, Kinney & Lamberski, 2018). Empirically, rabies has been found to cause dramatic die-offs among certain African wild dogs, Branford’s foxes, bat-eared
foxes and Ethiopian wolves. Ideally, long term monitoring has identified that majority of the wolf population crashes and recoveries in the Bale
Mountains over the last 30 years. This indicates that there is certain
resilience being backed up by the re-active vaccination of wolf packs, although it also highlights the significant threat that consecutive outbreaks would present.
Exploitation/persecution
Wolves have been historically killed or their fur for commercial purposes. In Ethiopia, wolf killing took place in the Simien Mountains in the last decade. In the past, sport hunters killed wolves during the periods of political instability. Presently, Ethiopian wolves face exploitation because of livestock and human encroachments. These practices have led humans to develop negative attitudes for the Ethiopian wolves because of retaliatory kills.
Road kills
With human encroachment
and increased tourism activities, Ethiopian wolves are killed on the road by motorists. With the increase in infrastructural development, the
population of the Ethiopian wolves is expected to reduce than expected.
Inappropriate use of land Illustratively, high altitude grassland is considered to be suitable for agricultural practices and provisions of wood for fuel. In many geolocations, uncontrolled land use in the Afro-alpine regions indirectly affects the wolves as they compete. This creates a lot of pressure on the population regarding their survival.
Inbreeding and
hybridization
Hybrid wolves have been recorded in the Bale Mountains. This was a result of cross-breeding between female wolves and male
domestic dogs. The resulting hybrids had a shorter muzzle, more substantial built body, and different coat patterns. Identifiably, the introgression of dog genes into the Ethiopian wolves’ gene pool was detected through the use of mitochondrial DNA. Consequently, there has been no indication of adverse effects because of out-breeding depression in fitness. There has been no evidence of hybridization taking place outside the Web Valley.