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Hokkaido wolf |
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He is a wild animal |
Origin |
Japan | |
Translation |
Francis Vandersteen |
| The possession of this animal is not authorized |
| The Hokkaido wolf or Canis lupus hattai, formerly known as Canis lupus rex, was also known as the Ezo or Ezoookami wolf. It was classified as a subspecies of the gray wolf in 1931 by Japanese arachnologist Kyukichi Kishida. Hokkaido wolves are descendants of mainland Siberian wolves. They once inhabited the Japanese island of Hokkaido, the Russian island of Sakhalin and the Kamchatka peninsula, and the Kuril Islands. Compared with the Honshu wolf, the Hokkaido wolf is closer to the standard gray wolf in terms of size, dimensions and other characteristics. They were generally light gray or tan. The Hokkaido wolf fed mainly on deer, rabbits and birds. A large number of deer died of starvation in 1878 due to heavy snow, having a great negative effect on the Ezo wolf. In addition, wolves were deliberately poisoned with strychnine by farmers who saw the wolf as a threat to their livestock. A bounty was placed on the wolf, which officially disappeared in 1889. Since then, there have been people claiming to see the Ezo wolf. However, none of these sightings have been verified. |
English (United Kingdom) 
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