Ethiopian Wolf !!

The Sanetti Plateau of the Bale Mountain National Park (2,200 sq km), which is located in the highlands of Ethiopia. This is the secretive habitat of one of most enigmatic predators in the world-the Ethiopian Wolf !! So secretive and unexplored is this habitat...that the Wolf population of Bale Mountains was first known to science as recently as 1959!!

This is one of the most surreal wildlife habitats i have ever set my foot into...it's beauty and desolateness made my mind go numb...it was as if i was no longer a part of this world...it did not matter anymore if i do not see an Ethiopian Wolf...for which i came on a quest from thousands of miles away...and i only have a day to explore and seek it...

Endless miles of such scenery..notice the Augur Buzzard perched high...the Sanetti Plateau is cited as the world's largest expanse of Afro-alpine moorland, a montane habitat confined to altitudes of 3,500 to 4,500 meters on East Africa's tallest mountains...

And suddenly a Wolf !! I just could not believe my eyes !!

It gave me a quick glance...and scampered away!!

I was so fortunate...to have set me eyes on this rare, mysterious and beautiful animal..a stuff of dreams for any wild lifer...

The Ethiopian Wolf ('Canis simensis'), which was formerly known as the 'Simien fox', is an intriguing animal by itself. DNA analysis suggests that Ethiopian wolves share a recent common ancestry with the Eurasian wolf ('Canis lupus'). In spite of the restricted range (mainly Afro-alpine meadows and moorlands in Ethiopia), small habitat and rodent-catching behaviour of the Ethiopian species, it's specialisation appears to be a relative recent adaptation. These highly endangered (IUCN Status) hunters are entirely dependent on rodents, mainly the Giant mole-rats, which comprise of nearly 40% of their diet. Less than 500 animals are believed to be remain in the Bale mountains, which is their last retreat and even less in the Simien mountains in N.Ethiopia.