How has IUCN assessed the species in the genus Canis? (Easy)

While it is assessed as Least Concern, that it is declining in parts of its range is known.

While it is assessed as Least Concern and its range is expanding in some areas, it is probably slowly declining in other parts of its range.

Needs updating. B1ab(iii,v); C1+2a(i); D. Its population in the Bale Mountains was estimated at 291 adult wolves in April 2009 and 290-320 adult wolves in April 2010. Since then 23 carcasses have been retrieved, and 56 individuals have gone missing, which was likely caused by a canine distemper epizootic. The species's range is shrinking and increasingly fragmented. The species’ extent of occurrence is estimated at 4,200 km² with an area of occupancy of 2,779 km². The largest population occurs in the Bale Mountains in southern Ethiopia, where population size varies widely due to the recurrence of infectious disease epizootics. Since 2008 this population had declined by ~30% as of 2011, from approximately 300 to an estimated 210 adults, due to consecutive epizootics of rabies and canine distemper. This equates to a 20% global decline in the population from 2008 to 2011. It is only just narrowly below the threshold for uplisting to Critically Endangered under C1, and merits careful ongoing monitoring of population numbers (and a reassessment if necessary) and sustained conservation interventions.

It used to be a species with a very wide distribution. It has become extinct in much of Western Europe, in Mexico, and in much of the United States, and their present distribution is more restricted. Continued threats include competition with humans for livestock and game species, exaggerated concern by the public regarding the danger of wolves, and fragmentation of habitat. While the global population trend is said to be stable, several wolf populations are facing serious threats; such populations include many of those in Europe.