Ethiopian Wolves

Graham Helps Save Planet

Will Travers, TV’s Graham Norton, our head of conservation Claudio Sillero and a BBC film crew have visited Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains to report on the world’s most endangered canid, the Ethiopian wolf. The stunning footage was a highlight of BBC1’s Saving Planet Earth - Don't miss Saving Planet Earth Live - Friday 6th July 7.00pm and 8.30pm.

: Graham Norton with Claudio, Will and Edriss Ebu from the wolf programme

Threats to the endangered wolves come from high altitude grazing and farming, and especially the domestic dogs the shepherds keep.

The dogs carry rabies which has had a devastating impact on the wolf population through cross-infection. Conservationists help local people to vaccinate their dogs against rabies. The dogs benefit, the people benefit and the wolves benefit too. £30 is enough money to vaccinate ten dogs.
Educational officers work with local people to keep their dogs apart from wolves. There’s help too so they can graze their livestock and still protect the habitat the wolves need.
The Project has a strong community role , employing 25 local staff and benefiting many mre. It organizes a local sports event and backs a local football team – called the Ethiopian Wolves – and visits schools, encouraging thousands of children every year to value the wildlife around them.

: There are fewer than 500 Ethiopian wolves left alive.

Dr Claudio Sillero from Oxford University is an Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme project leader and head of conservation at Born Free. He’s convinced that funding vaccination programmes is money well spent:

“Rabies and distemper, transmitted from domestic dogs, pose the most immediate threats to the wolves. Vaccination of domestic dogs is a useful tool to protect the remaining small wolf populations from deadly epidemics, while at the same time creating good will among the local population toward wildlife conservation.”