Today, the Japanese wolf is considered an officially extinct species. It is 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 walked around the Japanese land. What happened to them? Why they could not survive to this day? And who is to blame for this tragedy?
Wolves in Japanese Culture
Europeans are accustomed to seeing in the wolf a formidable predator that, without a shadow of doubt, attacks everyone who dares to stand in its way. That is 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 its lands from demons and evil misfortunes, but also worked closely with humans. For example, ancient people believed that the Japanese wolf helped lost travelers find their way home. That is why the Japanese often made sacrifices in honor of these animals, so that they always protected them.
Moreover, there is a version claiming that extinct wolf species could smell an approaching natural disaster. At such moments, their howl spread throughout the district, warning people of impending disaster.
Japanese wolves through the eyes of scientists
At the moment, scientists can not determine exactly when exactly the wolves settled on the Japanese islands. Only the fact that their ancestors hail from Mongolian lands is reliably 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 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 wolves could easily find food thrown away by people.
At the same time, two subspecies of these predators inhabited the territory of modern Japan. These are Ezo wolves and Hondos Japanese wolves. And if the first was a typical representative of the canine family, the second was very different from its current relatives.
Ezo wolf: appearance and causes of extinction
The more common name for this subspecies is Hokkaido Wolf. This predator was not much different from its European counterparts, was a direct heir to 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 mentioned earlier, the Japanese wolf was a very revered beast and was treated with deep respect. However, at the end of the 19th century, the situation changed for the worse. With the advent of Emperor Mutsuhito, more and more land went to 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 the killing of these predators.
This led to the fact that there was no end to those who wished to make money on the death of poor animals. And so, in 1889, the last ejo wolf was killed by hunters. And only after a hundred years, people began to think about how cruel they can be.
Chondos Wolf - Japanese, a special subspecies of the predator
This subspecies of wolves lived on the territory of the Shikoku, Kyushu, Honshu islands, as well as in some provinces of Japan. He differed from his brothers in small body dimensions, which is extremely unusual for wolves. But despite this, this predator had very well developed muscles, which compensated for its small growth.
The main problem of the Chondos wolf was the small number of species. Therefore, when an outbreak of rabies erupted in the Japanese islands in 1732, most of these animals died out. The rest were killed by people, since they represented a danger to them. According to official figures, the last Chondos wolf died in 1905 near the province of Nara.
