Overview
- A motion-triggered camera on British Columbia’s central coast filmed a female wolf swimming to a buoy, seizing the rope, and hauling a submerged trap to shore.
- Once the trap reached shallow water, the wolf opened it and consumed the herring bait, according to the study.
- Researchers describe the behavior as a potential first recorded example of tool use in wild wolves, though they note definitions vary.
- The findings were published in November 2025 in Ecology and Evolution by a team including Kyle Artelle and Paul Paquet after traps were repeatedly found emptied.
- Scientists are assessing how the behavior emerged and plan to monitor whether similar tactics appear or spread among other wolves in the area.