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Turkey at a glance
Main prey for wolves here are wild boar, brown hare and livestock. Wolves occupy approximately 75 percent of their former range.
In this paper, researchers Hüseyin AMBARLI, Alper ERTÜRK and Anıl SOYUMERT write:
In Turkey, the family Canidae is represented by three species, which are the gray wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758), golden or Asiatic jackal (Canis aureus Linnaeus, 1758), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus, 1758), whereas the only representative of Ursidae is the brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758).
All four species suffer from a lack of adequate scientific information and science-based approach for their management as they are intermittently allowed to be either hunted or killed by the public without reliable population estimates and information on problematic individuals.
Although we know that all four of these carnivore species have currently viable populations in Turkey, there are no accurate census data or long-term monitoring programs. Under these circumstances, developing and implementing realistic and comprehensive management and conservation plans for these species is not possible for either governmental bodies or conservationists.
Species Information
Species
Common Names: gray wolf, kurt (Turkish)
Latin Name: Canis lupus
Subspecies 1
Common Name:
Latin Name: Canis lupus lupus
Subspecies 2
Common Name:
Latin Name: Canis lupus pallipes
Current Wolf Population, Trend, Status
Number of wolves: About 5,000 to 7,000, according to this paper
Population trend: Declining
Legal protection: No protection
This page was updated in 2020
More Information
Media coverage and other links
- On the trail with Turkey’s wolf-fighting dogs
- Turkey’s first wildlife corridor links bears, wolf and lynx populations to the Caucasus Forests
Research
- Genetic analysis of the Turkish gray wolf based on partial mitochondrial DNA sequences
- Conflicts between Humans and wolf: A study in Bozdag, Turkey
- Turkey’s biodiversity at the crossroads
- Wolf diet in an agricultural landscape of northeastern Turkey
- Anthropogenic barriers to the distribution of the grey wolf in the Beydaglari Mountains area, Turkey
- Current status, distribution and conservation of brown bear and wild canids in Turkey