Indian wolf at the Jaipur Zoo in Rajasthan, India; By © Rijin S/ Wikimedia Commons /, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Indian/Iranian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) – (Sykes 1831)
Common Names: Indian Wolf, Iranian Wolf
Overall population: Unknown. Estimated at 2,000-3,000.
Physical description:
“Its coloration varies from grayish red to reddish white, with a touch of grey, many of the hairs being black tipped; there is generally black on the back, especially a V-shaped patch behind the shoulders. The limbs are paler than the body. The tail slightly or decidedly tipped with black. The underparts of the body are more or less white.”
[Mivart, G. (1890), Dogs, Jackals, Wolves and Foxes: A Monograph of the Canidæ, London: R.H. Porter : Dulau, pp. 9-10]
Range:
Original range – Widespread throughout the Holy Land east and west of the Jordan River into the Indian Subcontinent.
Current range – Holy Land to the Indian Subcontinent including Bhutan, India, Nepal, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria?, Afghanistan.
Habitat / Ecology / Prey:
Habitat: Thorn forests, scrub-lands, arid and semi-arid grassland habitats and agro-pastoral regions of semi-arid India.
Ecology:
-Global Warming
Prey: antelope- nilgai (Boselaphus tregocamelus), Indian gazelle “chinkara” (Gazella Bennettii), Indian antelope “blackbuck” (Antelope cervicapra) , Tibetan antelope “chiru” (Pantholops hodgsonii) , and four-horned, hares, rodents, livestock (goats and sheep)
Unique behaviors:
The Indian Wolf lives in smaller packs than its European and American counterparts, typically not exceeding 6-8 individuals. The Indian Wolves also hunt in smaller packs, usually in pairs. The wolves are less vocal than other gray wolves and tend to rarely howl.
Legal, Economic and Cultural Background:
Conservation:
Middle East; Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria?, Afghanistan.
Asia; Bhutan, India, Nepal
Taxonomic/Genetic Information:
LATEST NEWS AND INFORMATION
Indian/Iranian Wolf
Wolves in Bhutan, India, Nepal, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria?, Afghanistan.
Further Reading
Sykes, William H. (1831). “Catalogue of the Mammalia of Dukun (Deccan); with observations on the habits, etc., and characters of new species”. Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London 1830–1831. London: Zoological Society of London.
Sharma, D. K.; Maldonado, J. E.; Jhala, Y. V.; Fleischer, R. C. (2004). “Ancient wolf lineages in India”. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 271 (Suppl 3): S1–S4
Journal / Scientific Publications:
Indian Grey Wolf: first photographic record of Canis lupus pallipes from Papikonda National Park in northern Eastern Ghats, India. Shankar A, Salaria N, Balaji K, Shameer TT. ZOO’S PRINT. 2019 Apr
Identifying suitable habitat and corridors for Indian Grey Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in Chotta Nagpur Plateau and Lower Gangetic Planes: A species with differential management needs. Sharma LK, Mukherjee T, Saren PC, Chandra K. PloS one. 2019 Apr
Characterising the vocal repertoire of the Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Sadhukhan S, Hennelly L, Habib B. BioRxiv. 2019 Jan
Detecting hybridization between Iranian wild wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) and free-ranging domestic dog (Canis familiaris) by analysis of microsatellite markers
R Khosravi, HR Rezaei, M Kaboli – Zoological Science, 2013 – BioOne
Evidence for the persistence of Arabian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in the Ibex Reserve, Saudi Arabia and its preferred prey species; T Wronski, W Macasero – Zoology in the Middle East, 2008 – Taylor & Francis
Ecology of Indian Wolf, canis lupus pallipes sykes, 1831, and modeling its potential habitat in the great Indian bustard sanctuary, Maharashtra, India
B Habib – 2007 – shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in
Mitochondrial DNA coding region sequences support the phylogenetic distinction of two Indian wolf species; RK Aggarwal, T Kivisild, J Ramadevi… – Journal of Zoological …, 2007 – Wiley Online Library
Distribution, status and conservation of Indian gray wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in Karnataka, India; M Singh, HN Kumara – Journal of Zoology, 2006 – Wiley Online Library
[HTML] Ancient origin and evolution of the Indian wolf: evidence from mitochondrial DNA typing of wolves from Trans-Himalayan region and Pennisular India
RK Aggarwal, J Ramadevi… – Genome …, 2003 – genomebiology.biomedcentral.com
notes on breeding the Indian wolf Canis lupus pallipes at Jaipur Zoo; RN Yadav – International Zoo Yearbook, 1968 – Wiley Online Library
MOVEMENTS OF A RADIO-COLLARED WOLF (CANISLUPUS PALLIPES) IN THE NEGEV HIGHLANDS, ISRAEL; DA Afik, PU Alkon – Israel journal of zoology, 1983 – Taylor & Francis; DA Afik, PU Alkon – Israel journal of zoology, 1983 – Taylor & Francis
