Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 107, November 2013, pp. 1-29. | Page 3

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part of the Arabian Peninsula, in Southern Sinai, in Southern Palestine and probably also in Southern Jordan. To the north of the distribution of this subspecies, the Indian Canis lupus pallipes occurs, the distribution of which extends from Palestine through Syria, Southern Iraq, Southern Iran, Kuwait to Southern Pakistan and India. In Palestine two discrete populations of this subspecies have been found, that differ in size and colour and live in different climatic regions (Khalaf-von Jaffa, 1990). Prof. Dr. Heinrich Mendelssohn (1983) wrote in his article "Status of the wolf in the Middle East" : "The taxonomic situation of the wolves of Syria and Turkey is not yet well known. Wolves that are larger and darker than typical Canis lupus pallipes, but are different from Canis lupus lupus or Canis lupus campestris, have been found in the Golan. Similar wolves have recently been observed in Eastern Lebanon, close to the Syrian border, and it is possible that the wolves of Turkey and Northern Syria belong to this form”. The existence of wolves in Lebanon is surprising. Lebanon, with a dense human population and an enormous, unrestricted hunting pressure, has very little wildlife left. The jackal (Canis aureus) was so far supposed to be the largest wild mammal surviving in Lebanon. In August 1982, however, several wolves were observed by reliable observers, feeding on garbage dumps in the area of Lake Karoun, close to the Syrian border. A few days later ten wolves were seen feeding on a cow carcass in the same area. The wolves of Northern Iran are similar to Canis lupus campestris (Mendelssohn 1983, Khalaf-von Jaffa 1990).

The Arabian Wolf (Canis lupus arabs) at the Arabia’s Wildlife Centre in Sharjah, UAE. 01.02.2013. Photo by: Prof. Dr. Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf-von Jaffa.
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 107 – November 2013