formed in the early 1980s, a teenaged leatherwolf emerged on the southern california scene sharing bills with fellow oc metal acts such as metallica, witch, and slayer at venues like the woodstock and radio city. leatherwolf quickly caught the attention of enigma records affiliated indie label tropical records who financed the band's eponymous 1984 5-song ep, produced by randy burns. germany's steamhammer/spv label released the ep, upgraded to a full-fledged album, in 1985, titled "leatherwolf", while heavy metal america, who had the rights for great britain, issued it as "endangered species", so named after one of the songs on the album.