Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 107, November 2013, pp. 1-29. | Page 11

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mean weight of Canis lupus arabs: males 18.0 kg, a female 12.3 kilogram. It may seem strange that in such a small country as Palestine, only 410 kilometer from north to south, there are three distinct populations of such wide-ranging animals as wolves. There are, however, considerable climatic differences. Perhaps the different populations are well adapted to local climatic conditions. A similar situation is found with the leopard. They formerly occurred in Galilee, and perhaps in other areas in the north, Panthera pardus tulliana (now extinct in Palestine), one of the largest of the leopard subspecies. However, in the Jerusalem or Judean Desert and in the Naqab, Panthera pardus nimr occurs, one of the smallest subspecies. Perhaps for these two subspecies, the 400 mm. isohyet was also the dividing line. The greatly varying environmental conditions over relatively small distances in Palestine may stimulate the development of differing populations adapted to special local conditions. There is in Palestine four populations of mole-rat Spalax ehrenberi that differ in size, chromosomes and behavior (Mendelssohn I982, Khalaf-von Jaffa 1990).

Palestinian Wolf (Canis lupus arabs). 11.01.2012. Photo by Alexkant. http://www.zoochat.com/1551/israeli-wolf-canis-lupus-arabs-258932/ The fur of Canis lupus pallipes and Canis lupus arabs is very short and thin in summer. The dorsal hair is somewhat longer, even in summer. Perhaps the longer dorsal hair provides some protection from solar radiation in summer if the animals have to be active during hot summer days. The winter coat is longer, but not as long and dense as that of more northern subspecies.
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 107 – November 2013