Wolf species

HOKKAIDO WOLF

hokkaido wolf

CANIS LUPUS HATTAI

The Hokkaido wolf (Canis lupus hattai), or Ezo wolf, is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf native to Japan where the Honshu wolf (Canis lupus hodophilax) was also found. The Hokkaido wolf was classified as a subspecies of the gray wolf in 1931 by the Japanese Kyukichi Kishida.

  • Common name: Hokkaido wolf
  • Scientific name: Canis Lupus Hattai
  • Other names: Ezo wolf
  • Specie: Grey wolf
  • Type: Mammals
  • Diet: Carnivore
  • Status: Extinct

 canis lupus hattai

HOKKAIDO WOLF DESCRIPTION

This wolf was larger than the wolf of Honshu and similar in size to the common gray wolf. The skull was large, with long canines. Its coat was usually gray or gray-brown in color.

HOKKAIDO WOLF DIET

It fed mainly on deer, rabbits and birds. 

HOKKAIDO WOLF HABITAT

The Hokkaido wolf is a species endemic to Japan that was found mainly on the island of Hokkaido, but also in Russia on the Sakhalin Peninsula on the island of Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands.

Japanese wolf mask

IS THE HOKKAIDO WOLF DESCRIPTION EXTINCT?

The Hokkaido wolf disappeared during the Meiji Restoration in the second half of the 19th century. Regarded as a threat to the breeding, which the Meiji government was promoting at the time, the wolf was massacred through a system of bonuses for each wolf killed as well as through a direct chemical extermination campaign.

Hokkaido underwent significant development during this period and the Hokkaido wolf also suffered from the resulting environmental disturbances. It was declared officially extinct in 1889. Since then, some people have claimed to have seen the Hokkaido wolf, but this cannot be verified.

Other incredible extinct species have also populated Planet Earth, such as the Mongollon Mountain wolf that inhabited Arizona.

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