The Ethiopian wolf, one of the rarest members of the canid family, is close to facing extinction unless drastic measures are taken to reverse this. The biggest threats to their survival are diseases (mainly rabies), habitat loss to agricultural uses, and hunting. According to the latest population estimates, there are only 120-160 individuals in the Bale National Park in Ethiopia, which is where the wolves are most numerous.

Unfortunately, even though the Ethiopian wolf population has been in decline since the early 1900s, very little has been learned about this species. Scientists do know that the wolves prefer to live in open moorlands where the vegetation grows longer than 9.84 inches. They can also be found in the mountains of Ethiopia, specifically the Arssi, Bale, Gojjam, and Guna mountains. They prefer the mountainous regions that reach elevations of 9842.4-13123.2 feet.

Scientists have also had the opportunity to study the wolves' habits in the wild environment. The wolves tend to live in packs ranging from just two individuals to twelve. The pack will congregate together in the early morning, noon, and evening with noisy greetings, and then the wolves will go off on their own to hunt for the rest of the day. Their prey mostly consists of rodents (moles and rabbits), though occasionally they will pair up and go after such large prey as sheep and antelopes, though this is rare. Most of the time, the wolf will go after its prey on its own, and when they get close to it, make a dash, catching the prey with their teeth.

Lifespan and reproduction statistics are sketchy at best as no one really knows how long these creatures live. It is estimated that they can live up to 9-10 years; however, this is not for certain. Scientists do know that the wolves reach sexual maturity at two years of age, and mating season occurs sometime between October and January each year. The gestation period is about 60-62 days, after which two to six pups are born. The baby wolves are born with their eyes shut, and without teeth. Their coloring at birth is a charcoal gray color with a white patch on their chest. At about three weeks, the pups will shed this coat for the reddish gray coat of an adult wolf.

Scientists have also noted that the development of the pups is quite unique in the canid family. There are about three different stages of development that the pups go through before they become full grown wolves. The first stage occurs when the pups are about 1-4 weeks old. At this stage, they are completely dependent on their mother for milk, and are just developing their teeth. In another 5-10 weeks, or stage two of development, their diet is replaced by regurgitated food from all pack members. This stage usually ends when the pups are completely weaned, and only eat the food brought by other pack members. The final stage of development occurs from week ten until the pups are about six months old. Here, they survive almost exclusively on the food provided by the adult members of the pack, and start exploring the world outside of the den.

Information on the wolf, and population statistics are sketchy, and little is really being done to help save this species from extinction. The IUCN has recommended that a survey of the species' range and work with the provincial administrators to control, and possibly relocate farmers be done. They also suggest starting a captive breeding program; however, this is proving to be difficult because as the wolf population has been declining, the wolves have started to breed with domestic dogs. This has corrupted the gene pool, and finding pure-bred wolves has been difficult. Scientists are considering cross breeding these wolves with their close relatives, the gray wolves, as many believe that the Ethiopian wolf is in reality a population of gray wolves that evolved over the years into a separate species from their relatives in North America.

Another problem in helping this species is the threat of rabies that has been killing off a good majority of the population in recent years. Rabies first occurred in an outbreak in 1990 in the Bale Mountain National Park, and decreased the population by two thirds within a couple of weeks. After that, scientists started to work feverishly on a way to prevent another outbreak from occurring. The working theory now is to try and vaccinate the wolves with a rabies vaccine; however, scientists believe that they can only vaccinate about 70% of the population. Unfortunately, a method for vaccinating the population has yet to be developed.

The future does not look promising for the Ethiopian wolf. Scientists and environmentalists both agree that something needs to be done to help this species, but no one has any concrete answers for how to save these creatures. Without action taken soon, it does not look like the wolves will survive within the next fifty years.