Honshū wolves

The Honshū wolf, known in Japan as theJapanese wolf one of the two extinct subciessof the gray wolfonce endemic to the islands of Japan. The Honshū wolf occupied the islands of Honshū,Shikoku, and Kyūshū in Japan. The other subspecies is the Hokkaidō wolf, native to the island ofHokkaidō. The Honshū wolf is thought to have become extinct due to a combination of rabies, which was first reported in Kyūshū and Shikoku in 1732, and human eradication. The last known specimen died in 1905, in Nara Prefecture.Some interpretations of the Honshū wolf's extinction stress the change in local perceptions of the animal: rabies-induced aggression and deforestation of the wolf's habitat forced them into conflict with humans, and this led to them being targeted by farmers.There are currently eight known pelts and five stuffed specimens of the Japanese wolf in existence. One stuffed specimen is in the Netherlands, three are in Japan, and the animal caught in 1905 is kept in the British Museum. Owing to its small size (the Honshū wolf is the smallest known variety of wolf, probably due toallopatric speciation /island dwarfing) the Honshū wolf's classification as a subspecies of the gray wolf is disputed.Honshu wolves were abundant in Japan until 1732 when rabies was introduced to the island. It was rabies, deforestation of the wolf's habitat, and and conflict with humans that led to their extinction. The last specimen was officially killed in 1905 in Nara Prefecture on Honshu Island, Japan. Although there have been many sightings claimed since then, none of them have been verified. There are five mounted specimens known of today; three in Japan, one in the Netherlands, and the last officially killed specimen in a British Museum.