Canis lupus | UAE National Red List of Mammals: Marine and Terrestrial

Taxa
Canis lupus | Linnaeus, 1758
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Mammals
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxonomic Notes
In Europe, two subspecies are recognized: C. l. signatus (Iberia) and C. l. italicus (Italy, France and Switzerland). In Asia, two subspecies are recognized: C. l. pallipes (most of the Asian range from Israel to China) and C. l. arabs (Arabian peninsula). Furthermore, wolves of the Himalayan range have been proposed as a distinct subspecies (C. l. chanco). In North America, five subspecies are often recognized: C. l. arctos (Arctic wolf), C. l. lycaon (Eastern wolf), which Chambers et al. (2012) consider a distinct species, C. l. nubilus (Plains wolf), C. l. occidentalis (Northwestern wolf or Northern timber wolf), and C. l. baileyi (Mexican wolf). Note that this assessment follows Jackson et al. (2017) in regarding the Dingo, sometimes considered a subspecies of Grey Wolf (C. l. dingo), as a feral dog population derived from a domesticate, and hence as C. familiaris, along with all other free-ranging dogs.
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Wolf is assumed to have formerly occurred widely in mountains and deserts within the UAE. It was reportedly present on Jebel Hafeet (Thesiger 1949) but became extinct there in the 1970s (Duckworth 1996). Two wolf cubs were caught near Habab on the Dubai-Hatta road around 1978 and one survived in captivity until 1987; in 1984, one was shot in Al Ain Zoo while scavenging with feral dogs (Gross 1987). In 1994, a wolf that had been shot was photographed hanging from a tree near Ayeem, north of Masafi (Hellyer 1994). In December 1986, wolf tracks were found 40 km inland of Jebel Ali and a sighting was reported in a wadi near Masfut in May 1987 (Gross 1987). In November 1996, residents of Wadi Jabsah, Fujairah (a lower tributary of Wadi Ham) kept a portable radio playing in the wadi, above the area of habitation, which they said was to keep wolves away (G. Feulner pers. comm. 2018). Residents of Wadi Safad in Fujairah reported seeing and hearing wolves at night (Aspinall et al. 2005). There have been unconfirmed reports of sightings in the Sweihan area and elsewhere north of Al Ain up to 2004 (Drew and Tourenq 2005). There are no confirmed recent records. Hornby (1996) considered the Wolf to be Regionally Extinct in the UAE. Speaking to the <a href=""https://www.khaleejtimes.com/article/20140110/ARTICLE/301109918/1002"">Khaleej Times</a>, R. Khan said The last living Arabian Wolf that was collected from Dubai desert in the mid-1970s was a rickety female, which eventually died at the Dubai Zoo on March 11, 1993. The map shows the presumed former distribution across the UAE. Natural recolonisation of UAE is highly unlikely due to the fencing of international borders and the rarity of the species in adjoining countries. The global range of the Grey Wolf extends across most of the Holarctic, including the Middle East. The present distribution is more restricted due to extirpations of local populations in parts of Western Europe and the USA (Mech and Boitani 2010, Boitani et al. 2018). It is rare in the Arabian Peninsula due mainly to ongoing persecution (Mallon and Budd 2011).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
No
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
Formerly recorded in mountains and deserts in UAE. The species is highly adaptable and across its global range makes use of a wide variety of habitats, from hot deserts to high mountains and forests. No specific information on the ecology of the wolf in UAE is available.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Regionally extinct
Assessment status abreviation
RE
Assessment rationale/justification
This species is considered Regionally Extinct in the UAE due to the absence of confirmed records for many years. The last confirmed record in the wild in the UAE appears to be from 1994 (Hellyer 1994) but there are unconfirmed reports up to 2004. Natural recolonisation of UAE is unlikely due to the fencing of international borders and the rarity of the species in adjoining countries.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2018
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Subject to severe persecution, like all large carnivores, through shooting, trapping and poisoning (Mallon and Budd 2011). Reduced prey base and possible hybridisation with domestic dogs are further threats. Industrial and residential development has fragmented potential habitat and widespread fencing hinders or prevents movement between countries (the international borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman are now all but fully fenced, except for some stretches along the higher parts of the Hajar Mountains).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Further information
History
The backcasted 1996 assessment for this species is Regionally Extinct which matches the listing given by Hornby (1996).
Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Canis lupus Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Canidae Canis