Cryptid canines
The controversial shunka-wark'in photo: it may show a feral boar, or a real cryptid carnivore
The creatures listed here are wild dogs, or creatures which resemble members of the dog family, that are not recognised by mainstream science. Hyaenas are included here strictly for convenience.
Waheela (Alaska and North West Territories NA): Also known as the great white wolf, it is a wolf-like canid which is much larger and more heavily built than the timber wolf. Possibly surviving dire-wolves.
Ontarian Giant Wolf (Ontario and general Great Lakes region NA): Verey similar to waheela, probably the same species. Is also pure white, with a head and feet that are larger in proportion to it's body than a normal wolf. Front quarters in both creatures are higher than the hind quarters.
Illinois dog-like creature (Illinois NA): A dog-like animal which has been sighted on and off in Illinois. More information is needed before a guess can be made to it's identity.
Shunka warak'in (Idaho, Montana, and neighboring regions NA): A hyaena-like creature that is a major part of Native folklore. It's name means "carrying-off-dogs". One was shot sometime before 1977, and there is a photo of the beast (top of the page). It is most likely Hyaenadon montanus, a creodont carnivore which supposedly died out before the Pliestocene.
Andean wolf (The Andes mountains SA): A wolf-like creature that has been reported from the Chilean Andes. Probably a large relative of the Andean foxes, which are not real foxes but a seperate branch of the Canidae.
Saharan wolf (The Sahara Desert AFRICA): Wolf-like creature seen in the Sahara. Most probably mis-identifications of the African Hunting Dog, although may be a seperate sub-species.
Salawa (Egypt AFRICA): An odd creature, which allegedly looks like an anteater/jackal cross, with square ears, a droopy nose, a poofy forked tail. A creature identical to the salawa was known to the ancient Egyptians and represented the god Set. Set was considered a powerful and evil being, and the salawa of today is no less malicious. Creatures mentioned in an ancienttext from the midddle-east are also identical to the salawa. possibly some kind of strange jackal-like animal.
Booa (Senegal AFRICA): A giant hyaena mentioned in tribal lore. Possibly surviving short-faced hyaenas, or a giant species of spotted hyaena.
European wolf-like creatures (France, Switzerland and Italy EUROPE): Large wolf-like creatures, probably not giant wolves, but most likely the same as maulers and the arenotelicon (see "Mustelids").
Out-of-place hyaenas (Southren Europe): Striped, and occasionaly spotted, hyaenas have been sporadically reported from southern europe, where they were supposedly extinct since the time of the Romans. Cave paintings of striped hyaenas are known from France, and it has been proposed that there is a rmnant population somewhere in the mountains of Europe.
Girt "dog" (Cumbria in England EUROPE): The girt dog was a dog-like creature which ravaged the Cumbrian countryside in 1810, killing many domestic animals by cutting open their throats and drinking the blood. It is usually classed with the maulers, which are dealt with later, but from its description the Girt Dog may in fact have been something quite different. It was said to be like a dog, but with a long strong tail, jaws which could open nearly vertically, and stripes along it's hind quarters. That is a perfect description of a thylacine, the "marsupial wolf". Also, a traveling cricus that went through the area mysteriously lost the thylacine which they had. This, and the fact that it only drank the victims blood and ate some of the organs, makes it more possible that the Girt Dog was really the Girt Thylacine.
Thylacine (Tasmania and New South Wales AUSTRALIA): The marsupial wolf, thylacines were supposedly wiped out in the early 1900's. However, they are still seen sporadically in the Cradle Mountains of Tasmania, and even more remarkable is they have been seen on mainland Australia, where they died out thousands of years ago. It is possible that thylacines, along with many other rare marsupials, were introduced to a wildlife reserve there during the late 1800's.
PNG dog-like animal (Papua New Guinea INDONESIA): A dog-like creature which resembles the thylacine emmensely. Probably an isolated population in the PNG mountains.
Horned jackal (Sri Lanka ASIA): An anomalous report of a horned jackal comes from Sri Lanka, and there is also mention of horned jackals in South African triabl lore (Xhosa tribe). Although the thought of a horned canid seems dubious, it is by no means impossible or even improbable for horns to evolve in a species of canine. it remains to be seen if anything will ever be made of these reports, however.
