FALKLAND ISLANDS WOLFFALKLAND ISLANDS WOLF

DUSICYON AUSTRALISDUSICYON AUSTRALISKingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Order Carnivora

Family Canidae

Genus Dusicyon

Species Dusicyon australis

Authority (Kerr, 1792)

This mammal have different names in english: Falkland Islands Wolf, Falklands Wolf, Falkland Dog, Warrah, Antartic Wolf, Falkland Fox.

DESCRIPTIONDESCRIPTION

• The Falkland Islands Wolf is larger than others of the South American canids. It was about 60 cm high at the shoulders, and it had a brownish-grey fur with black ears and a color more light under the body. This species has also a white spot on the end of the tail. This is a sign of domestication.

HABITATHABITAT

• This species lived on the barren Falkland Islands, nearly 500 km from the South American mainland. It was the only land mammal of these islands.

FOOD AND REPRODUCTIONFOOD AND REPRODUCTION

• This species survived on a diet of seabirds, seal pups, and probably even on vegetation. It was the only predatory mammal on the Falklands Islands.

• Nothing is known about the Falkland Islands Wolf’s reproductive or social behaviour.

CAUSES OF EXTINCTIONCAUSES OF EXTINCTION

• U.S. fur traders hunted the species, and sheep raising Scottish settlers poisoned the Falkland Islands Wolf as a pest species.