Gold Half Gram 2022 Extinct Predators - Dusicyon Australis, Coin from Senegal - detailed information

Senegal uses the West African CFA Franc as its circulation currency, together with seven other states in West Africa which make up the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA; Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger and Togo. The currency is issued by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO; Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest), and - unlike for example the Euro - its coins are not marked with an individual country of issue.

Some of the member countries however issue non-circulating collector and commemorative coinage, which Senegal has been doing since 1968. Some of these coins are in the internationally popular half gram (0.5g) of gold mini-coin collector format - such as this one.

This coin is part of the the Extinct Predators Series, and is dedicated to Dusicyon Australis - the "Falkland Islands Wolf". It is a "companion coin" to the silver ounce with a similar design which was issued for Congo.

The Falkland Islands wolf was the only native land mammal of the Falkland Islands. It became extinct in 1876, the first known canid to have become extinct in historical times.

The Falkland Islands wolf existed on both West and East Falkland, but Charles Darwin was uncertain if they were differentiated varieties or subspecies. Its fur had a tawny colour and the tip of the tail was white. Its diet is unknown, but, due to the absence of native rodents on the Falklands, probably consisted of ground-nesting birds, such as geese and penguins, seal pups, and insects, as well as seashore scavenging. It has sometimes been said that it may have lived in burrows.

An Ice Age land bridge or ice connection between the Falkland Islands and South America, enabling the species’ ancestors to traverse the gap, has long been suggested. It seems likely that the founding population of the wolf crossed on this ice bridge during the last Ice Age.