- The research that Werhahn and her team gathered during these expeditions has now been compiled, and the genetic findings present strong evidence that these wolves should be recognized as a subspecies of gray wolf, uniquely adapted to living in high altitudes, if not an entirely distinct species.
“[The Himalayan wolf] is more distinct than any of the gray wolf subspecies that are currently acknowledged,” says Werhahn, a doctorate student at Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and lead author of a study of Himalayan wolves published recently in Global Ecology and Conservation.
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One of the major findings of Werahn’s team is that Himalayan wolves have a genetic adaptation absent in other gray wolves that helps them better cope with the low-oxygen environment of high altitudes, similar to the genetic traits of Tibetans who also live in the area. Part of the Himalayan wolf’s genome allows the animals' hearts to more efficiently process oxygen, a rarified commodity in the mountains.
Other behavioral evidence supports the idea that Himalayan wolves could be unique from their gray relatives. The Himalayan wolf howls to a different tune than other wolves, for example. Werhahn describes the howls as shorter and slightly lower in pitch than the nighttime songs of gray wolves.
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Currently, there isn’t enough data to determine definitively whether or not these wolf populations are declining. But if the IUCN classifies Himalayan wolves as a unique species or subspecies, researchers can bring the data to the Chinese and Nepalese governments to try to spur conservation efforts.
According to Waits, Werhahn’s work “highlights the importance for conserving the Himalayan wolf” due to the animal’s genetic distinctness.
It’s not the main point of the article but.. “You’re roaming like a wolf pack,” Werhahn says, adding that the team ventures to altitudes above 18,500 feet. Like the wolves, they read the landscape from vantage points, walk for days to get to promising locations, and follow the routes that wolves tend to favor in hopes of spotting the animals. Where do I sign up for this? It’s intriguing to think about how wolves decide where to go.
If anyone is interested in another taxonomical conversation regarding wolves, the taxonomic debate section in the Wikipedia article for The Red Wolf really illustrates why this kind of stuff can be hard to nail down.