Everything about The Falkland Islands Wolf totally explained
The
Falkland Islands Wolf (
Dusicyon australis), also known as the
Warrah and occasionally as the
Falkland Islands Dog,
Falkland Islands Fox or
Antarctic Wolf, was the only native land
mammal of the
Falkland Islands. This
endemic canid became
extinct in
1876 (on
West Falkland island), the only known canid to have gone extinct in historical times. It was the only modern
species in the
genus Dusicyon. It was most closely related species to the
southern hemisphere foxes in the genus
Lycalopex, such as the
Culpeo, which itself has been introduced to the Falkland Islands in modern times. It was known from both
West and
East Falkland, but it's unknown if the varieties were much differentiated.
The fur of the Falkland Islands Wolf had a tawny
colour. The tip of the tail was white. The diet is unknown. Due to the absence of native
rodents on the Falklands, its diet probably consisted of ground-nesting
birds such as
geese and
penguins, grubs and
insects, as well as
seashore scavenging. It was sometimes said to have dwelt in burrows.
History
The first recorded sighting was by Capt. John Strong in
1692.
Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who established the first settlement in the Falkland Islands termed it a
loup-renard ("
fox-
wolf") When
Charles Darwin visited the islands in
1833 he named the species
Canis antarcticus and described it as common and tame. The settlers regarded the wolf as a threat to their
sheep and organised poisoning and shooting on a massive scale. The absence of
forests led to the speedy success of the extermination campaign. This was facilitated by the animal's tameness, as is common in
insular species due to the absence of predators - trappers would lure the animal with a chunk of meat held in one hand, and kill it with a
knife or stick held in the other. However, it would defend itself from humans occasionally if it needed to, as Admiral George Grey noted when they landed on West Falkland at
Port Edgar (Falkland Islands) on December 17, 1836 -
» "I landed in the creek and had hardly put a foot on shore, when one of the foxes of the country was chased by Pilot. I ran up as they were fighting and came to the poor dog's assistance who had nearly met his match, and a
rifle ball soon settled the business, but the Pilot had received a terrible bite in the leg."
A live wolf was taken to London Zoo,
England in
1868, but survived only a few years. In
1880, post-extinction,
Thomas Huxley classified it as related to the
Coyote. In 1914, Oldfield Thomas moved it into the genus
Dusicyon, with the Culpeo and other South American foxes. (These other
canids have since been removed to
Lycalopex.)
Darwin's description
Darwin writing about his 1834 visit to the Falklands in his
Journal and Remarks (
The Voyage of the Beagle) has the following to say of
Canis antarcticus -
The only quadruped native to the island, is a large wolf-like fox, which is common to both [[EastFalkland |
Evolution
When organising his notes on the last stage of
the Beagle expedition, Darwin wrote of his growing suspicions that the
Galápagos Islands mockingbirds and
tortoises differed depending on which island they came from:
When I see these Islands in sight of each other, & possessed of but a scanty stock of animals, tenanted by these birds but slightly differing in structure & filling the same place in Nature, I must suspect they're only varieties. The only fact of a similar kind of which I'm aware is the constant asserted difference between the wolf-like Fox of East & West Falkland Islds. If there's the slightest foundation for these remarks the zoology of Archipelagoes will be well worth examining; for such facts [would] undermine the stability of Species. |
The term "would" was added after the words had been written, suggesting a cautious retraction from his initial bold statement. He later wrote that such facts “seemed to me to throw some light on the origin of species”.
It has been speculated that the unusual distribution of this animal (the only other canine species native to
oceanic islands are the
Island Fox of California, and
Darwin's Fox of Chile - but these habitats are not as remote as the Falklands) and some details of the
skull suggest that it originally arrived with
natives visiting the islands and was kept by them as a
pet in a semi-domesticated state. If that's true, the progenitor form from mainland
South America would have become extinct during the last
Ice Age.
DNA analysis of museum specimens have proved rather inconclusive as to the exact relationship of this animal, some even suggesting
hybridization (during the
domestication process) with a relative or progenitor of the Coyote; it isn't known whether this would have been biologically possible. Another possibility is that, during an
Ice Age, a
land bridge between Falkland Islands and South America enabled its ancestors to traverse the distance. At any rate, the Falkland Island Wolf is a
biogeographical mystery.
Commemorations
Locations:
Other:
The Falkland fifty pence piece features the Warrah
The Warrah, a Falkland Islands' conservation magazine (External Link
)
"Warrah Knitwear", a company formerly based in Fox Bay.
"Warrah Design", a company based in Fox BayFurther Information
Get more info on 'Falkland Islands Wolf'.
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