There are videos in this Dog Day Saturday Afternoon post, but a few words are needed first because it isn’t easy to define the African wolf.
The boffins seem to agree that all African wolves are closely related to the gray wolf, Canis lupus, but prefer to call the African model Canis lupaster (jargon alert in the downloadable file at that link).
Things get vaguer when it comes to subspecies, apart from the recent finding that African golden jackals and African golden wolves are two different species.
If I understand that linked paper above, wolves in various parts of Africa tend to develop their own look, but that doesn’t necessarily mean each one is a genetically unique subspecies.
So, if a video describes, say, “the Egyptian wolf,” this layperson will assume that it’s an African wolf in Egypt. Period. It’s still C. lupaster, I think, no matter the venue, at least until taxonomists can better sort out African wolves.
Now on to the fun!
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Egyptian wolf
This canine lives in the Nile valley and other vegetated areas, per the note with this video of one rather jittery individual:
More information from the International Wolf Center.
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Algerian wolf
Short-haired, lightly built — perfect for this arid region near the equator. A Yellowstone gray wolf is heavier, but its thick coat would lead to heat stroke here!
This used to be called Canis lupus algirensis, but that name rarely comes up in an online search. In fact, there were very few reliable results anywhere for Algerian wolves.
Perhaps this is one of the populations that need more study.
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Ethiopian wolf
Trick question: Why does Wikipedia not include Ethiopian wolves in the article on African wolves?
Answer: Ethiopian wolves are in the Canis genus but as their own species.
As Africa’s most endangered carnivore, this canid definitely deserves to be included here.
These rodent specialists also like nectar!
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Serengeti wolf
This video is VERY brief, but I do think that critter is a wolf. Most of the YouTube videos I saw mislabeled jackals as wolves.
Its build is more powerful than a jackal’s, but telling the two apart is very hard.
This brief post has a nice picture of the wolf that used to be called Canus anthus bea.
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Somali wolf
Videos of the former Canis lupus riparius are even more difficult to find, but here’s one!
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Lagniappe:
I couldn’t find any video of the sixth subspecies that used to be mentioned: the variegated or Nubian wolf, Canis lupus soudanicus, but the following video of an ,Arabian wolf came up — apparently they are part snow leopard!
Featured image: Tom Jutte, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Flight To Wonder 