Trail Camera Captures Rare Wolf and Bear Interaction Over a Fish
Trail cameras in Minnesota have captured rare and unexpected interactions between wolves and a black bear around a fresh catch of fish.
The trail camera footage, shared by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, was recorded last spring near a Minnesota creek regularly used by a local wolf pack as a food source. The video — which has amassed over 274,000 views on Instagram — shows a wolf leaving the fish behind.
The trail camera then shows a black bear entering the frame, sniffing the potential meal, and ultimately walking away. Two days later, another wolf, identified as the breeding female of the Half-Moon Pack and the older sister of the first wolf, retrieves the fish.
The trail camera footage highlighted fascinating and unusual behavior by the wolf and the black bear over the fish. The wolf that dropped the fish was a yearling, while the fish was ultimately picked up by the older sister. Perhaps most interesting, however, was the black bear’s decision to leave the fish untouched. This behavior was unexpected, as bears would typically consume an easy meal.
“Surprisingly, the black bear seemed very perplexed at finding this fish, and just left it alone without even taking a little nibble,” The Voyageurs Wolf Project writes on Instagram. “We would have expected a bear to readily take a free meal like this, but apparently not.”
Wolves catching fish in boreal forests is rarely documented, and trail cameras have made it possible to observe this behavior. Voyageurs Wolf Project added that this past spring marked the tenth year of documenting wolves hunting and catching fish — a behavior that had not been observed in boreal ecosystems until this research.
“What is particularly fascinating is that this wolf was not only carrying a fish but carrying two of them,” the Voyageurs Wolf Project says.
Previous footage from 2018 reportedly also showed a wolf catching fish, leaving them on the creek bank, and returning to continue fishing rather than eating immediately. The new video suggests this strategy may be more widespread than previously known.
Image credits: All photos via Instagram/The Voyageurs Wolf Project.
