MOLECULAR-GENETICS OF THE MOST ENDANGERED CANID - THE ETHIOPIAN WOLF CANIS-SIMENSIS

The world's most endangered canid is the Ethiopian wolf Canis simensis , which is found in six isolated areas of the Ethiopian highlands with a total population of no more than 500 individuals. Ethiopian wolf po pulations are declining due to habitat loss and extermination by human s. Moreover, in at least one population, Ethiopian wolves are sympatri c with domestic dogs, which may hybridize with them, compete for food, and act as disease vectors. Using molecular techniques, we address fo ur questions concerning Ethiopian wolves that have conservation implic ations. First, we determine the relationships of Ethiopian wolves to o ther wolf-like canids by phylogenetic analysis of 2001 base pairs of m itochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence. Our results suggest that the Ethiop ian wolf is a distinct species more closely related to gray wolves and coyotes than to any African canid. The mtDNA sequence similarity with gray wolves implies that the Ethiopian wolf may hybridize with domest ic dogs, a recent derivative of the gray wolf. We examine this possibi lity through mtDNA restriction fragment analysis and analysis of nine microsatellite loci in populations of Ethiopian wolves. The results im ply that hybridization has occurred between female Ethiopian wolves an d male domestic dogs in one population. Finally, we assess levels of v ariability within and between two Ethiopian wolf populations. Although these closely situated populations are not differentiated, the level of variability in both is low, suggesting long-term effective populati on sizes of less than a few hundred individuals. We recommend immediat e captive breeding of Ethiopian wolves to protect their gene pool from dilution and further loss of genetic variability.