The Ethiopian red fox
What many Ethiopians call the red fox (ቀይ ቀበሮ, qey qebero) is really a wolf: the Ethiopian wolf, Canis simensis, also known as the Simien fox or Simien jackal. It lives only in the highlands of Ethiopia, and it is the rarest wolf in the world and Africa's most threatened carnivore.
About 453
wolves left in the wild
6 populations
all in Ethiopia's mountains
3,000–4,500 m
on Afroalpine moorland
Endangered
on the IUCN Red List
Where they live, and how many
Six small populations survive, on mountains either side of the Rift Valley, cut off from each other by farmland. The Bale Mountains hold the largest. Three more have died out in living memory: Gosh Meda, Mount Guna and Mount Choke.
~453wolves left in the wildin 122 packs · 6 populations
Each dot is one wolf. Estimate from the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme.
Donate to their conservationWhat it looks like
Long legs, a slender muzzle and a rusty red coat, with a white throat, chest and belly and a bushy tail that darkens towards the tip. It is about the size of a coyote, and males are noticeably bigger than females.
Seen trotting across the moorland it looks more like a fox than a wolf, which is where the local name comes from.
How it lives
Wolves live in family packs that share and defend a territory, but they hunt alone, by day, mostly for rodents: giant mole-rats and grass rats make up most of their diet.
Usually only the dominant female in a pack breeds, and the whole family helps feed and guard her pups.
Why it is in danger
The biggest threat is disease caught from domestic dogs, above all rabies and canine distemper, which can wipe out whole packs. Farms and grazing are also climbing higher into the mountains, leaving the wolves small, isolated pockets of land.
Who is protecting it
The Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme has worked with the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority since the 1990s. It monitors the packs, vaccinates village dogs and the wolves themselves against rabies, and works with the communities who share the highlands with them.
Where to see one
Your best chance is early in the morning, when the wolves are out hunting.
Bale Mountains National Park
Home to the largest population. The road across the Sanetti Plateau is one of the easiest places in the country to spot a wolf.
Simien Mountains National Park
Look out on the high grassland around Chenek, with gelada monkeys and walia ibex nearby.
Guassa Community Conservation Area
Community-protected highland in Menz, the closest of the three to Addis Ababa.
Watching them well
- Go with a local guide or park scout; they know where the packs are.
- Keep your distance and stay quiet; never feed or follow a wolf.
- Leave dogs at home: they carry the diseases that kill wolves.