Vegetarian Discussion

[Husky]

Post 2/2



There are about 3 (or is it 4) species of Hindoo wolves.

They all occur in India, but are called

- the Indian wolf,

- the Himalayan Wolf, shown to not be a Grey wolf after all

- the "Tibetan" Wolf which is a type of Grey wolf (Gray wolves are seen in much of Eurasia, but the Tibetan wolf is seen from the Indian subcontinent to Korea at one stage)

- Golden "Jackal", which is apparently more wolf than jackal. Even so, not sure if it is counted as a wolf by everyone.





Not sure what the best order for posting here will be, but excerpting from various sources as linked.



General wolf information:



graywolfconservation.com/Information/world_wolves.htm

Wolves of the World



Wolves come in many shapes, sizes and colors... varying from the brawny black wolves of Canada’s Mackenzie River to the petite tawny wolves that once roamed the Falkland Islands. The wolves of the world have captured human fascination for as long as memory serves. We (speak for yourself) have persecuted them for daring to compete with us for resources and yet we have also invited them into our homes to live as domesticated dogs. For as long as we have maintained our fascination with them, we have also been trying to classify them. Today we recognize nine distinct species of wolf (one of which humans [read: christos from Europe infesting the Falklands] drove to extinction in 1879 and one with an odd name) spread over six continents.





Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)



Gray Wolf



The gray wolf is the largest wild canid, usually weighing between 70 and 120 lbs. They vary in coloration greatly - from black to gray to tawny to white. Gray wolves have slanted eyes, varying from yellow to deep amber in color. To allow for swift and efficient movement through snow, brush and other conditions, gray wolves have narrow chests, with elbows set close together. A gray wolf’s tail is straight and usually hangs to its hock (knee). Gray wolves have noticeably larger heads than other canids, which is often attributed to their high level of intelligence. Their large paws, which are webbed with fur, aid in movement across mud and snow.



Being very social animals, gray wolves live, travel, and hunt in packs of typically 2-15 animals, though there have been reports of up to 38 wolves in one pack. Gray wolves are opportunistic predators, which mean they hunt large and small game, but will also feed off of carrion. Because of the gray wolf’s large pack size and intricate social hierarchy, they can work together to bring down large game such as deer, elk, bison and moose. Nearly all the different names you hear for wolves - timber, arctic, Mexican gray, buffalo, plains, Canadian, tundra, ect. - are either nick-names or subspecies of the gray wolf.



The gray wolf’s progenitors probably first evolved in Eurasia 800,000 years ago, spreading to North America via the Bering land bridge 300,000 - 400,000 years ago. Once in North America, the gray wolf coexisted with the much larger and more powerful Dire wolf until its extinction 8,000 years ago. Since that time the gray wolf has come to be the dominate canine predator of the world, with 37 recognized subspecies ranging across six continents.

Among the 37 subspecies of Gray Wolf, the "Tibetan Wolf" also dubbed "Chinese wolf" (despite occurring in much of Asia) occurs in India, and is thus not just a Bon, other Shamanist and Taoist wolf in the rest of Asia, but those in India and Nepal are HindOO heathens:



graywolfconservation.com/Information/subspecies.htm



"Subspecies: Tibetan wolf/Chinese Wolf

Scientific name: C.l. chanco

Range: China, Russia, Manchuria, Tibet, India, Nepal, Bhutan"



Will get back to the above species later.





graywolfconservation.com/Information/world_wolves.htm

Himalayan Wolf (Canis himalayensis)



Photo: Himalayan wolf - by yukonmarty



The small, light-colored wolves native to Northern India, Kashmir (uh, Kashmir IS in northern India) and Eastern Nepal were long thought to be part of a subspecies of gray wolf called the Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanco). However, mtDNA analysis suggests that they should instead be classified as a distinct species – the Himalayan wolf (Canis himalayensis). Along with the Indian wolf, Himalayan wolves may represent an ancient line of wolves predating even Canis lupus. Himalayan and Indian wolves are probably the oldest living lineages of any wolf species in the world, having been isolated on the Indian subcontinent for over 800,000 years. They are so distinct, in fact, that they do not share any genetic markers with gray wolves or domestic dogs.

(hock



There are only about 350 Himalayan wolves left in the wild. (Let me guess: the great white christian hunter, and the islamic rulers with their bloodthirst for the kill I mean hunt of Indian animals?) Though critically endangered, these wolves are still widely hunted as pests throughout their range in the Himalayan Mountains. Thankfully India started a captive breeding program in 2001 with one lone female. With much work the captive population has grown to include 21 animals.

(Yet Hindus of the regions where our wolves live apparently have religious injunctions/taboos against killing wolves. This is also indicated in an excerpt further below.)





Indian Wolf (Canis indica)



Photo: Indian wolf



Originally thought to be the same gray wolf subspecies as the Iranian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), the Indian wolf has recently been designated as a separate and distinct species (Canis indica). Recent mtDNA analysis shows that the Indian wolf’s ancestors were isolated on the Indian subcontinent over 800,000 years ago, and then split to form the modern Indian wolf and Himalayan wolf some 400,000 years ago. Though the Indian wolf’s range overlaps greatly with its closest relative, the Himalayan wolf, almost no interbreeding has occurred because of behavioral differences.



The Indian wolf is one of the world’s smallest wolves, measuring only 24-38 inches in height and weighing 40-60 pounds. They are almost always reddish or tawny in color with long legs and narrow muzzles, and have a shorter and thinner coat than northern wolves.



Canis indica is only found in the Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. With 2,000-3,000 remaining in the wild, Indians wolves are protected as an endangered species. However, they are still commonly hunted and poisoned by locals because of attacks on livestock and children. (Yet that documentary specifically said that Hindus generally try not to retaliate against the wolves. So one wonders whether there is a correlation to "locals" attacking wolves and the increase in christoislamania and other unheathenism like psecularism in India.) These attacks are far more common in Indian wolves than in other wolf species because nearly all of their large native prey was hunted to extinction by humans (Read: christobrits and islamic rulers).



[...]



Golden Jackal (Canis aureus)



Photo: Golden jackal - by D. Gordon E. Robertson



The golden jackal (Canis aureus) is a wolf in all but name. It is much more closely related to wolves than to other jackals and probably evolved in Asia rather than Africa. They resemble coyotes in general appearance but are smaller and lighter, and their vocalizations are very similar to domestic dogs. Though the largest of the jackals, they only weigh 15-33 pounds. Golden jackal coat length and color varies with their habitat but it is generally some shade of reddish-gray.



Canis aureus is the only jackal found outside of Africa. Their huge range spreads across Northern Africa, Southeastern Europe, Western and Southern Asia, and across the Middle East. Though no comprehensive population study has been conducted for the species, golden jackals are generally considered to be thriving and are hunted throughout their range as pests. In Russia they are commercially hunted and trapped for their fur, to be used in ladies’ hats and coats.



Golden jackals are highly adaptable animals – successfully living in the African savannahs, European mountains and Indian tropical forests. They usually feed on small mammals, but have been known to scavenge off larger carcasses. In India, they have been known to form symbiotic relationships with wild tigers. The golden jackal follows the tiger at a distance and waits to clean up the scraps after a kill. The jackals are also known for scouting out large prey and alerting tigers to the opportunity. Perhaps it was their malleability and resourcefulness that lead the ancient Egyptians to worship the golden jackal as Anubis, the god of embalming and the afterlife.

As an aside, in the above excerpted bits, the "Canis Indica" was specifically said not to be misconstrued as related to the Iranian wolf any more, but distinct.



Found something interesting about the Iranian wolf:



wolfermagic.blogspot.com/2013/08/wolves-of-world-when-does-wolf-not-howl.html

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Wolves of the World: When does a wolf not howl?

by Kymberli Morris



We know that wolves do not howl at the moon, but do all wolves howl? The answer is no.



There are two sub-species of Grey Wolf that are not known to howl: the Arabian wolf and the Iranian wolf. The Arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs) can be found in Israel, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Saudia Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. One of the smallest sub-species of grey wolf, it stands just over 2 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs less than 50 lbs. Also, they do not live in large packs, preferring to hunt in pairs or groups no larger than 3 or 4 animals.



The Iranian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), found in Northern Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, ranges from 50-70 lbs and also stands a little more than 2 feet tall at the shoulder. The Arabian wolf is considered Critically Endangered and the Iranian wolf is considered Endangered according to the International Wolf Center’s classifications.

walkthroughindia.com/wildlife/the-15-super-wild-predators-in-the-reserved-forest-of-indian-subcontinent/



Brilliant page with pictures of our Hindoo heathen brethren like Snow Leopard, Clouded Leopard etc. Awesome. Anyway this bit:

Wild Indian Wolf

Indian-Grey-Wolf (Not a grey wolf actually)



Indian wolves are distributed around the Himalayas range of India and prey on antelopes, rodents and hares. Hunting of wolves in India considered as as taboo and sign of bad harvest.

cosmosmith.com/indian_wolves.asp

The Indian Wolf

Indian Wolves



For a long time, it was believed that the Indian Wolf was a gray wolf subspecies and was recognized as the Canis lupus pallipes, the same as the Iranian Wolf. However, recent genetic research suggests that the Indian Wolf has not cross-bred with any other subspecies in over 400,000 years which would make it a separate species of it's own, the Canis indica. The Canis lupus pallipes would then refer to the wolves from the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, but not India.



HABITAT

The Indian Wolf is adapted to scrublands, grasslands, and semi-arid pastoral environments. It is found mainly in the Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Its territories range from 100 to 150 square miles. Much of the Indian Wolf's habitat overlaps that of the Himalayan Wolf, and because of this, it is a wonder why the two do not interbreed.

Karnataka and Andhra. Yet not Tamilnadu? But of course there are Hindoo wolves native to TN. <- Look how I made a subtle self-reference.





This next page still confuses/merges Tibetan Wolf with Himalayan wolf, but otherwise tells us that there are (at least) 3 species of wolf in India. I think they then count the Golden Jackal as the third?



pnhzp.gov.in/urls/iframe_content/conservation_breeding_tibetan_wolf.html

Tibetan Wolf

[Photo of a simply beautiful Hindoo wolf. Not sure if it's of the Tibetan Wolf species or Himalayan Wolf, since the following text still confuses the two species.]



Extremely threatened due to hunting, killing. IWAP lists it as a Schedule I species. Very little known about the species, one of the three species of wolves found in India.



Indian subcontinent. Canis lupus chanco or the Tibetan (Himalayan) wolf is found in the trans-Himalayan region and its range extends into Tibet, China, Manchuria, and Mongolia. Wolves form a distinct species and are of utmost significance from the perspective of conservation. Their reduced numbers and loss of forest habitat, loss of habitat-that deprives wolves of sites for proper denning and rendezvous-and the resulting depletion of natural prey pose a major threat. Diseases, such as canine distemper-a viral disease affecting the nervous system-and rabies pose another threat. Moreover, little is known about the ecology, behavior and status of the Himalayan wolves.The Tibetan Wolf features on schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) act 1972as an endangered species.



The first breeding pair came from Shimla Zoo in 1994. First breeding started in 1994.Till now there have been 32 births, in the park of this species. Out of these 6 animals died in the zoo due to old age.!7 animals have been given to Shimla, Nainital and Gangtok Zoo.

That site belongs to a "zoological park":



pnhzp.gov.in/

Darjeeling Zoo: Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park



This is the only specialized Zoo in the country and is internationally recognized for its conservation breeding programmes of Red Panda, Snow Leopards, Tibetan Wolf and other highly endangered animal species of Eastern Himalaya.

(To repeat: it's true. Red Pandas don't just come in Taoist and Bon varieties, but there are Hindoo Red Pandas: they occur naturally in India and Nepal too! :So happy



It was formerly known as Himalayan Zoological Park and was established on 14th August, 1958 in Darjeeling (West Bengal) as a joint venture of Govt. of India (Department of Science and Technology) and Govt. of West Bengal (Department of Education). In January, 1972, the Park was converted into a registered Society under West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961 with an understanding that the maintenance cost of the zoo will be shared by the Center and State Governments. The Society in May, 1993 was transferred to Department of Forests, Govt. of West Bengal. At the Govt. of India level the Zoological Park is under the Ministry of Environment and Forests.



The Zoological Park is striving for the maintenance of ecological balance in the Eastern Himalayas with the following objectives :

[...]

Wackypedia:



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_wolf

The Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanco), also known as the woolly wolf, is a gray wolf subspecies native to Asia from Turkestan throughout Tibet to Mongolia, northern China and the Indian subcontinent. In Tibet and Ladakh it is known as chánkú or shanko.[2]



Canis lupus is relatively widespread with a stable population trend and has therefore been assessed as Least Concern by IUCN since 2004.[3]



Canis lupus chanco is regarded as a synonym of Canis lupus lupus, reflecting a recent tendency to lump older subspecies and to name fewer new ones.[4]



The Tibetan wolf is thought by some scientists to be the most likely ancestor of the domestic dog, on account of its small size and mandible morphology, noting that the uppermost part of the lower jaw is turned back on both the Tibetan wolf and the dog, though not so in other grey wolf subspecies.[5]



[5] Olsen, S.J., Olsen, J.W. (1977). The Chinese wolf, ancestor of new world dogs. Science 197: 533–535.



[...]

Distribution and habitat



Between 1847 and 1923, Tibetan wolves have been described under various scientific names from Chinese Tartary, Tibet, Kashmir, the Gobi Desert, and from near Seoul in Korea. Their distributional range extends from the Russian Pamir, Chinese Turkestan, Tien Shan, Mongolia and northern China.[10] Their range in China includes Shensi, Sichuan, and Yunnan. In the 20th century, wolves were not recorded on the southern slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal.[2]



In the western Himalayas they are known to occur in Kashmir and Lahul, Himachal Pradesh, and in Pakistan's Chitral District. (Oh Chitral: also where heathen humans have (barely) survived. Explains everything.) [11] Between 2005 and 2008, sightings and scat of Tibetan wolves were recorded in the alpine meadows above the tree line north-east of the Nanda Devi National Park in Uttarakhand.[12]



In November 2013, a Tibetan wolf was photographed by a camera trap installed at about 3,500 m (11,500 ft) altitude on the Sunderdhunga Glacier in Bageshwar district, Uttarakhand.[13]



[11] Aggarwal, R. K.; Ramadevi, J. and L. Singh (2003). "Ancient origin and evolution of the Indian wolf: evidence from mitochondrial DNA typing of wolves from Trans-Himalayan region and Pennisular India". Genome Biology 2003, 4: 6. doi:10.1186/gb-2003-4-6-p6. Retrieved 28 August 2013.



[...]

Historical sources indicate that wolves occasionally killed children in Ladakh and Lahoul.[2] In Japanese Korea in 1928, wolves claimed more human victims than tigers, leopards, bears and boars combined.[15]

The final reference, [15], goes to an article about foreigners mining in Korea as part of something actually called "Oriental Consolidated Mining Company [OCMC]" (must be the Korean variant of the East India Company: for looting heathen nations). Don't know why the Foreign Devils - oh did I just yet again translate the colonial-era Chinese term for the aliens? - don't know why the alien christo-demons didn't just call themselves exploiters of others' wealth and lives. (Speaking of which, the Brits have been outed in recent news as having been deeply beein into "owning" Africans as slaves - c.f. how the Brits usually try to fingerpoint just the AmriKKKans on that one, and try to reduce their criminality to "merely" trading in slaves instead of also "owning" them. <- IIRC there was just such a dialogue in some illustration from Trollope.)



Anyway, the alien miners reported that wolves regularly attacked. Either the mining operations had come too far into wolf territory, and probably affected the creatures' actual food supply thereby, so that the humans had to supplement the animals' usual food sources, or the Shamanist wolves just didn't like christo-exploitation. A la the famous lion attacks against the colonials in Africa. (Wasn't there a typical simplified hollywho film on this subject: The Ghost and The Darkness I think it was called? IIRC the lions were supposed to be African heathen ancestors avenging heathenism/Africans by knocking of the christos/foreign devils.)



Either way, apparently 48 victims of wolf attacks in Korea at one point:



english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=2&no=362934&rel_no=1

Devils in the Darkness

The Korean Gray Wolf was a terror for miners

(Such a christian title. Of course the wolves must be the devils not the alien miners encroaching on the habitat and food supply of the wolves. Oh poor persecuted alien looting christian demons.)



[...]

Wolves continued to plague the Korean countryside long after the tigers became scarce, and for the most part extinct, moving to the top of the food chain. Farmers and rangers, both Korean and Japanese alike, hunted and trapped the wolves extensively not only for their pelts but also as protection for their families and livestock. Despite their best efforts, the wolves continued to flourish.



It would be interesting to know how the wolves fared during the Korean War when so much of the country was destroyed and food more plentiful (in the form of corpses and animal carcasses), and the people better armed. Evidently the wolves were so plentiful in North Korea that in 1959 the North Korean government designated the wolves as nuisances and granted permission for any citizen to hunt them at will. According to surveys performed in the 1980s there were an estimated to be no more than 20 wolves in the Mount Paekdu region, but with the great famines and disasters that plagued the North in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the continued existence of these wolves is uncertain.



Wolves in South Korea fared even worse. With most of the country rapidly being developed and forested and uninhabited lands few, by the early 1960s the Gray Wolf was all but exterminated from South Korea -- with perhaps only a few left in the mountainous regions of Chiri-san and Taebaek-san. There have been reported sightings, the most recent in 1987, but no concrete proof of the wolf's continued existence in the wilds of South Korea.



Despite their great numbers in the past, the wolves have literally disappeared in the 60-plus years since the Western gold miners left Korea. They, like the tigers, are now stories from the past -- a treasure that has been lost.

(They're not "lost", they're extincted or appear to be.)

The price of human "progress". At least the E Asian heathens lament the losses truly, with sincerity, and even side with the loss of the various animal and plant species (because as heathens they identify with these as the truer heathen selves) in their literature and films. The Japanese are particularly famous for such self-criticism, e.g. "Pom Poko", "Kaze No Tane No Nausicaa", and my favourite from that series "Mononoke Hime".





Back to the HindOO wolves, this is wackypedia on the Himalayan Wolf. Apparently some don't want to recognise it as distinct from the Grey Wolf species despite the DNA studies:



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_wolf

Himalayan wolf



The Himalayan wolf (provisional name: "Canis himalayensis") has been suggested by several Indian biologists for recognition as a critically endangered canid species, distinct from Canis lupus. Results of mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests that the Himalayan wolf is phylogenetically distinct from the Tibetan wolf Canis lupus chanco.[1] In April 2009, the Latin binom Canis himalayensis has been proposed as nomenclatural and taxonomic change by the Nomenclature Specialist on the CITES Animals Committee.[2]



However, the IUCN Wolf Specialist Group has not taken a position regarding this issue. The editors of the third edition and current of Mammal Species of the World consider the small population to be Tibetan wolves, a subspecies of the gray wolf, despite that the Himalayan population are much older than Tibetan wolves.[3]





Evolution

Lineages of the Indian subcontinent, with C. himalayensis being the oldest

Canis lupus himalayensis found in Himalayan zoological park, Darjeeling



Until recently, all wolves and dogs were believed to be part of the wolf-dog clade, meaning all domesticated dogs are derived from wolves. When the Himalayan lineage was studied, it became apparent these wolves shared no genetic markers with dogs. This indicates the Himalayan wolf played no role in the domestication of dogs.[6] The estimated time of the split of the Himalayan wolf from the other wolf lineages (0.8–1.5 millions of years ago) correlates with the period of rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and associated habitat modification (0.9–1.1 millions of years ago).[7]



The Indian subcontinent includes three diverse, distinct wolf lineages — Indian wolf, Tibetan wolf and Eurasian wolf. This fact makes the Indian region the likely cradle of modern wolf evolution.[6]

(Final claim is interesting if it turned out true.

But India simply has massive biodiversity. Even noticeable in the more obvious: such as the number of larger mammals we have.

Humans actually fall in there too. The subcontinent is just an ideal area for life to multiply and diversify.



Still the 3 Indian subcontinental wolf lineages mentioned above are a bit confusing: there is the Indian wolf/Canis Indica, the Tibetan wolf - which is classed as a Gray Wolf and which hence must be the "Eurasian wolf" - since the 3rd species ought to be the Himalayan Wolf/Canis Himalayensis as this is now found to be distinct not only from the Tibetan Wolves and other Gray Wolves (not being a Gray wolf), but from all other extant wolf species, including the Indian Wolf/Canis Indica. Or did I miss something?)



According to Aggarwal et al., mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests the Himalayan wolf is distinct from the Tibetan wolf, and represents the most ancient wolf lineage ever recorded.[1] However, other researchers have questioned this conclusion, claiming that recent genetic studies have lacked in one or another aspect to provide a complete picture. The Himalayan wolf is present strictly in the Indian region of Ladakh and Spiti and differs from the wolf in Tibetan part. As these areas are part of the same landscape, the question of what ecological or behavioural barriers could be facilitating such strict divergence, particularly when no striking morphological differences occur between the wolves from Tibet and Indian Trans-Himalaya, remains unanswered. Another problem is related to limited data: none of the studies have collected samples from the Kashmir valley population, despite suggesting it as the area of potential contact of the closely related wolf clades. Instead, the samples have been collected from Indian zoos or museum specimens.[8]

Perhaps for the same reason that Himalayan Wolf and Canis Indica (Indian Wolf) haven't interbred.

(Oh wait, this is India. I can already hear allegations of casteism for such "endogamy". No?)



Yet consider how it took centuries before the Eastern Wolves of N America decided to interbreed with the Coyotes. Until then N America's Eastern Wolves just killed the Coyotes if these ventured into their territory. IIRC they're even described as enemies traditionally. This interbreeding is very recent, started around the turn of the 19th century IIRC, and happened as a result of... let's call it desperation: loss of territory by both, and for what's thought to be some mutually-beneficial reason, they're now teaming up by interbreeding.



Whereas, maybe the 3 species of Hindoo wolves see no need (yet) to interbreed? Or maybe - 'cause they're called distinct "species" - they don't produce viable offspring(?) Or perhaps relative sizes of the creatures are not very compatible for breeding? (Very small dog varieties and very large ones don't seem to interbreed easily with each other either. But none of the Indian wolves seem that large: aren't they're all relatively smallish creatures compared to some other wolves?)

Alternatively, just like behavioural differences were cited btw Canis Indica (Indian Wolf) and Canis Himalayensis (Himalayan Wolf) that have kept them from interbreeding, there may be subtle behavioural differences between the latter and the Tibetan Wolf species too that have kept them from interbreeding. Who knows. But if the genetics results show they haven't interbred in aeons, then they haven't interbred.

Moreover, at minimum, if the Himalayan species is more ancient than the Tibetan species of wolf, then the former can't be a "type" of the latter.