THE PEOPLE ► History

The history of the conservation of Ethiopian wolves and the Afroalpine ecosystem, like many others around the globe, has been marked by the work of individuals.

1960s - International attention first brought to the plight of the Simien fox (as it was then known) by British naturalist Leslie Brown. He visits Simien, Bale and Arsi Mountains and proposes the creation of Bale Mountains National Park.

1970s - James Malcolm (studying African wild dogs in Serengeti at the time) visits Bale Mountains several times. He remains a stalwart supporter of this rare canid to date.

1980s - Chris Hillman (in the left) from the New York Zoological Society sets up the Bale Mountains Research Project. The project collects the first population information on the wolves and develops a research team to assess their conservation needs. To his right, David Macdonald of WildCRU, who has supervised several doctoral students in Bale.


Zelealem Tefera, Yilma Delelegn, Mohammed Abdi, and Menassie Gashaw worked closely with Chris in those early days.

1988 - Invited by Chris, Claudio Sillero and Dada Gottelli initiate the Ethiopian Wolf Project in Bale.

Claudio's research efforts ably supported by Edriss Ebu to date.

1995 - Karen Laurenson starts work on the impact and management of disease in wolves.

1995 - Claudio and Karen Laurenson fund the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme, coordinated by Claudio until 2000.

1996 - Zelelam Tefera conducts his doctorate research on wolves in Menz in Central Ethiopia, leading a communitiy based conservation initiative.

1998 - Claudio receives the prestigious Whitley Award for his work in Ethiopia

The EWCP Team is growing...

1998 - Improved security permits EWCP to survey all other mountain ranges in Northern Ethiopia. Expeditions confirm wolf persistence in several small and isolated populations.



Jorgelina Marino leads expeditions, collecting information towards her doctoral thesis on the spatial ecology of Ethiopian wolves.

1999 - People from across wolf ranges comes to Bale for a strategic workshop to discuss Ethiopian wolf and Afroalpine conservation.

2000 - The programme expands to the Northern highlands.

2000 - Stuart Williams takes over as EWCP coordinator.

The team expands substantially.

2001 - New doctorate students in Bale look at wolf ecology (Lucy Tallents), genetics (Deborah Randall) and disease control (Darryn Knobel).

2005 - James Malcolm becomes the new Field Coordinator.

2006 - James concretes EWCP's expansion into the Arsi Mountains, possisbly the second largest wolf population after Bale.

2006 - Graham Hemson is the new Field coordinator.

2006 - Two new doctorate students in Bale - Freya van Kersten studying hormonal regulation of reproduction in Ethiopian wolves, and Flavie Vial looking at the complex relations between livestock, vegetation, rodents and the wolves.

2009 - Anne-Marie Stewart and Chris Gordon join EWCP as the new Field Director and Technical Co-ordinator respectively.


Dr Graham Hemson says goodbye to the EWCP team and friends in the Bale mountains.