Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 107, November 2013, pp. 1-29. | Página 17
17
In the few Mediterranean areas where both species occur, wolves are rare and probably cannot influence jackal populations. Cases of direct interactions between wolves and jackals have not been observed, but wolves probably dominate (Mendelssohn I982, Khalaf-von Jaffa 1990). Feral dogs have replaced wolves in Palestine where wolves have disappeared. These feral dogs are crossbreeds between pariah dogs, which are no longer pure in Palestine, and imported European breeds, mainly alsatians. They subsist mainly by scavenging on garbage dumps and killing lambs, sheep and goats. These predations are often ascribed to wolves. They may kill 10, 15 or more animals in one night, mostly by biting them in the throat. Once, three dogs killed 70 kids and goats in one night. Often, feral dogs do not feed on their victims. It is believed that where wolves are decreasing, they may hybridize with domestic dogs (Mendelssohn I982, Khalaf-von Jaffa 1990). Like other information on the life history of wolves in Palestine, knowledge of wolf pack size and composition is based on casual observations. Harrison (1968) stated that the wolves of the arid regions of the Arabian Peninsula hunt singly or, at most, in pairs. Tristram (1866) stated that in Palestine he never saw two wolves together. In fact, almost all depredations on livestock during the last 75 years have been carried out by single wolves, or a pair (Mendelssohn 1982, Khalaf-von Jaffa 1990). Any group size, from single specimens to groups of 12, has been seen by reliable observers, with larger groups being seen only rarely. In late summer, autumn and winter when the grown cubs accompany their parents, family groups of up to a pair of adults and five cubs are quite often seen (Mendelssohn I982, Khalafvon Jaffa 1990). Palestinian wolves breed in winter and whelp in spring. According to the dentition of young cubs collected in the Wadi Araba in summer, the cubs are born there from early to mid-April. A female Canis lupus pallipes originating from that area and kept at the Wildlife Research Centre of Tel Aviv University (WRCTAU), came into estrus during the second half of January, and whelped between the end of March and the beginning of April. Because she had been kept isolated for several years at the Tel Aviv Zoo, she began to breed only in 1977 at six years of age. She bore four cubs (all males) in 1977, six cubs (4 males, 2 females) in 1978, and a single male cub in 1979 (Mendelssohn I982, Khalaf-von Jaffa 1990). There is only one observation on the time of reproduction in northern Palestine. A female in the last stages of gravidity was shot on 29 April 1952 at the hill range of Ramot Yissakh \??]X^H?K \?Y??K ] ?\ ?? X?[?[? HYY]\??[?X[?\?XH Z?\? X?H ??Y]?]]\? [?[? H\?\?
Y[?[ ????NN ??[Y????Y??H NNL
K???^?[H?H[\?[?X[??[???X?[?[][?8?$??[X?\? L
?8?$???[X?\? ? L??