- Honshū Wolf
Taxobox
name = Honshū Wolf
image_caption = "Canis lupus hodophilax"
image_width = 250px
status = EX
extinct = 1905
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Carnivora
familia =Canidae
genus = "Canis "
species = "C. lupus"
subspecies = "C. l. hodophilax"
synonyms=
* "hodopylax" (Temminck, 1844)
* "japonicus" (Nehring, 1885) [MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id =14000738]
trinomial = "Canis lupus hodophilax"
trinomial_authority = (Temminck, 1839)The term nihongo|"Japanese Wolf"|狼 or オオカミ|Ōkami refers to twoextinct subspecies of theGray Wolf . The subspecies that the name 'Japanese Wolf' usually describes is the Honshū Wolf (nihongo|"Canis lupus hodophilax"|日本狼 or ニホンオオカミ|Nihon Ōkami), which occupied the islands ofHonshū ,Shikoku , andKyūshū inJapan . The other is theHokkaido Wolf . The Honshū Wolf is thought to have become extinct due to a combination ofrabies , which was first reported in Kyūshū and Shikoku in 1732, and human eradication. The last known specimen died in 1905, inNara Prefecture .Some interpretations of the Honshū Wolf's extinction stress the change in local perceptions of the animal: rabies-induced aggression and
deforestation of the wolf's habitat forced them into conflict with humans, and this led to them being targeted by farmers. [cite web | last = Knight | first = John | year = 2004 | url = http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/Wolves_Japan_on_extct.htm | title = On the Extinction of the Japanese Wolf | accessdate = 2006-06-15]There are currently eight known pelts and five stuffed specimens of the Japanese Wolf in existence. One stuffed specimen is in the
Netherlands , three are in Japan, and the animal caught in 1905 is kept in theBritish Museum . Owing to its small size (the Honshū Wolf is the smallest known variety of wolf, probably due toallopatric speciation /island dwarfing ) the Honshū Wolf's classification as a subspecies of the grey wolf is disputed.The wolf was afforded a benign, rather than malignant, place in Japanese folklore and religious traditions: the clan leader
Fujiwara no Hidehira was said to have been raised by wolves, and the wolf is often symbolically linked with mountainkami inShinto (the most famous example being the wolf kami ofMitsumine Shrine in the town of Chichibu inSaitama Prefecture ).Sightings of the Japanese Wolf have been claimed from the time of its extinction to the present day, but none of these have been verifiedcite book
last = Shuker
first = Karl P N
authorlink = Karl Shuker
title = The Beasts That Hide From Man
publisher = Paraview
year = 2003
isbn = 1-931044-64-3] (seecryptozoology ). [ cite web | last = Hall | first = Jamie | year = 2005 | url = http://www.newanimal.org/japwolf.htm | title = The Cryptid Zoo: Japanese Dwarf Wolf (or Shamanu) | accessdate = 2006-06-15]References
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