Indian wolf finds place on IUCN's danger list; only 3k left in the wild

The Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), one of the most ancient and elusive wolf lineages in the world, has entered the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Threatened Species as 'Vulnerable', with only 2,877 to 3,310 mature animals estimated to be surviving in the wild.

- Aditi Shekar

The announcement was made on October 10 after an assessment conducted by Indian researchers was accepted by IUCN.

The assessment, conducted between 2023 and 2024, represents the first formal IUCN evaluation of the Indian wolf. It was led by scientists across India, including Dr Shaheer Khan and Dr Bilal Habib of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with Dr Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, former WII dean and one of India's foremost wolf ecologists known for his decades-long research on the species.