Volkswacht Bodensee - Researchers stunned by wolf's use of crab traps to feed

The behavior captured on video in a remote part of British Columbia province shows a wolf completing multiple steps to retrieve a crab trap from deep water, sophisticated behavior researchers say marks "the first known potential tool use in wild wolves."

"I couldn't believe my eyes when we opened up that camera," said Kyle Artelle, an environmental biologist at the State University of New York.

The discovery, detailed in the journal Ecology and Evolution, came partly by accident.

For several years, crab traps have been submerged in deep water in the area as part of a program to eradicate European green crabs, an invasive species.

Researchers, working in collaboration with the Heiltsuk First Nation, observed that the traps had mysteriously been dragged ashore and the bait removed.

Because the traps had been set in deep water and never exposed during low tide, they assumed a marine predator was involved.

They set up cameras in May 2024 and quickly solved the mystery.

A female wolf was recorded swimming out and dragging the buoy attached to a trap to shore.

She then pulled in the line attached to the trap. With the trap on shore, she chewed through its netting to access the bait.

It was a "carefully choreographed sequence," the researchers said -- not a wild predator aggressively pursuing food.

Artelle said it was "incredible behavior."

"This wolf showed up and she just saw a float and she knew the float was attached to a trap. She knew how to pull the trap up. She knew if she pulled the trap onto the beach, she could get food... Really intelligent, really incredible, sophisticated behavior."

The researchers, who included University of Victoria geography professor Paul Paquet, conceded they do not know how pervasive such levels of sophistication are among wild wolves.

They noted the wolf may have figured out how to get the trap on shore through trial-and-error, stressing that wolves in the remote area are less exposed to danger -- including from humans -- and therefore may have more time to experiment.

D.Schaer--VB