Japanese wolf: description of the species, habitat, causes of extinction

Today, the Japanese wolf is officially an extinct species. It's sad, but now you can see it only in old paintings or among museum exhibits. But there were times when these freedom-loving predators proudly paced the Japanese land. What happened to them? Why they could not live up to our days? And who is to blame for this tragedy?

Wolves in Japanese culture

Europeans are accustomed to seeing in the wolf a formidable predator who, without a shadow of a doubt, attacks anyone who dares to stand in his way. That's why they were so afraid of these animals and at the slightest opportunity tried to destroy them. However, the Japanese wolf appears to us in a completely different light.

So, according to ancient legends, this animal was the embodiment of the forest spirit. This predator not only protected his land from demons and evil misfortunes, but also worked closely with man. For example, the ancient people believed that the Japanese wolf helped stray travelers find their way home. That is why the Japanese often presented sacrifices in honor of these animals, so that they always protect them.

Moreover, there is a version claiming that the extinct species of wolves could have sensed the approach of a natural disaster. At such moments, their howl was carried around the neighborhood, warning people about impending disaster.

Japanese wolves through the eyes of scientists

At the moment, scientists can not pinpoint exactly when wolves settled on the Japanese islands. Only the fact that their ancestors come from Mongolian lands is well known. This is evidenced by their genome, which is only 6% different from the genome of their blood brothers.

In addition to Japan itself, they also inhabited the nearby islands, such as Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku and Wakayama. Like their European counterparts, Japanese predators preferred to settle near villages and small towns. This can be explained by the fact that here the wolves could easily find themselves food, thrown out by people.

At the same time in the territory of modern Japan lived two subspecies of these predators. These are the wolves of the edzo and the Hondos Japanese wolves. And if the first was a typical representative of the family of dogs, the second was very different from their current relatives.

Wolf ezo: appearance and causes of extinction

The more common name of this subspecies is the wolf of Hokkaido. This predator differed little from its European counterparts, was the direct heir of their customs and habits. On average, the growth of these animals rarely exceeded the limit of 130 cm. But even so, they were one of the largest predators on the island.

As stated earlier, the Japanese wolf was a very revered animal and was treated with deep respect. However, at the end of the XIX century the situation changed for the worse. With the arrival of the Emperor Mutsuhito, more and more land was spent for the needs of farmers and landowners. And since wolves could pose a serious threat to them, the government issued a decree according to which a reward was due for killing these predators.

This led to the fact that from those who wanted to make money on the death of poor animals there was no release. And so, in 1889, the last wolf of the edzo was killed by hunters. And only after a hundred years people began to think about how cruel they could be.

Wolf Chondos - Japanese, a special subspecies of predator

This subspecies of wolves inhabited the territory of the islands of Shikoku, Kyushu, Honshu, as well as in some provinces of Japan. From his fellows he was notable for small body dimensions, which is extremely unusual for wolves. But despite this, this predator had a very well developed musculature, which compensated for its small growth.

The main problem of the Hondo wolf was the small number of species. Therefore, when in 1732 an outbreak of rabies broke out on the territory of the Japanese islands, most of these animals died out. The rest were killed by people, since they were dangerous for them. According to official data, the last Chondos wolf died in 1905 near the province of Nara.

Hope for a miracle

Given the new achievements in genetic engineering, there was a hope that some of the extinct species will get another chance for existence. Scientists really believe that they will soon be able to clone those creatures whose DNA they have in the database.

As for the Japanese wolves, thanks to the efforts of Hideaki Todze, their genome was completely restored. It is curious that a talented scientist was able to achieve this, using only a tiny piece of living tissue, which miraculously survived to this day. This means that someday the Japanese wolves will rise again from the dead and take their rightful place next to the man.