Since the first wolf carcass was found in Bale in July 2014, EWCP has worked frantically to contain the spread of rabies and to minimize its awful impacts.
In Ethiopia field teams lead by Eric Bedin (EWCP Field Coordinator) implemented four intensive wolf vaccination campaigns, and many domestic dogs were vaccinated in surrounding villages. In the UK and abroad, I contacted our loyal supporters to appeal for extra help to implement the emergency intervention.
We are grateful to all the individuals and organizations that contributed financially and to everyone in the EWCP family for their hard work.
The intervention was the most intensive in the history of EWCP, reaching 21 wolf packs and protecting 106 wolves, around a third of the whole Bale population. In the Sanetti plateau, a prime wolf area and the epicenter of the outbreak, more than half of all the wolves are now vaccinated.
The analyses of demographic data will give us soon a better idea of the overall mortality, but as far as we know, no wolf family has gone extinct during this epizootic. This is a great achievement, supported by the targeted vaccination strategy, aimed at protecting the dominant pair in each pack, thus ensuring social stability and succesful breeding. We will bring you news of this year’s breeding very soon.
Claudio Sillero