Hokkaido wolf

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Hokkaidō wolf
エゾオオカミ剥製・開拓記念館19840914.jpg
Canis lupus hattai
Extinct (1889)
Scientific classification
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C. l. hattai
Trinomial name
Canis lupus hattai
Kishida, 1931
Synonyms
  • C. l. rex (Pocock, 1935)[1]

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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.

Description

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Extinction

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. Hokkaidō experienced significant development during this period, which led to the Hokkaidō wolf suffering from resulting environmental disruption.[2]

See also

References

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  2. Brett L. Walker, "Meiji Modernization, Scientific: Agriculture, and the Destruction of Japan's Hokkaidō Wolf," Environmental History, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2004.