Falkland Islands Wolf

The Falkland Islands wolf (Dusicyon australis), also known as warrah or Antarctic wolf, was the only native land mammal of the Falkland Islands, situated in the colder regions of the South Atlantic Ocean. This endemic species was hunted and poisoned to extinction in 1876. Its diet is unknown, but, due to the absence of native rodents on the Falklands (rats were only brought to the islands when Europeans 'discovered' them in 1690), probably consisted of ground-nesting birds such as geese and penguins, seal pups, and even insects, as well as seashore scavenging. It has sometimes been said that it may have lived in burrows.

It diverged some 16,000 years ago from Dusicyon avus, also an extinct species of canid in the genus Dusicyon, that once roamed the Pampas and Patagonia in the southern parts of South America. It appears to have survived until very recently, perhaps no more that 400 years ago.

The Falkland Islands wolf lived on both West and East Falkland. It was about one meter in length with a weight of some 20 kilograms.

The Falkland Islands weren’t always as isolated from South America as they are today. At the height of the last ice age sea levels were up to 150 metres lower, exposing an enormous coastal plain off the Argentine coast. It seems likely that under the icy conditions of the ice age the strait between the continent and the Falkland Islands could have periodically frozen over, creating a brief window of opportunity for a cunning wolf to reach new land[1].

Of course, its 16,000 year isolation contributed to its eventual demise. Like many island species, it was totally naive to predators - including humans - and was easily killed by early European settlers.

[1] Austin et al: The origins of the enigmatic Falkland Islands wolf in Nature Communications - 2013. See here.