Scientists have observed "potential tool use" by wolves on British Columbia's North Coast.At least one member of the species appears to have developed a "sophisticated understanding" of crab traps, reeling them back to shore to secure the bait within.According to researchers Kyle Artelle and Paul Paquet, beginning in 2023 traps set up by Haíɫzaqv Nation Guardians to deal with an invasion of European green crabs near Bella Bella kept turning up damaged. Cameras were set up and eventually revealed a wolf as the culprit."A wolf was recorded, at a mid-to-high tide, emerging from the water carrying a buoy attached to a crab trap line in her mouth," they pair wrote in a paper published by Ecology and Evolution on November 17. "In rapid succession, she carried the buoy up the beach, dropped it, descended the beach, picked up the line, and pulled it farther up the beach until a trap partly emerged from the water."."She then dropped the line, descended the beach again, picked up the line, and pulled the trap farther up the beach," they continued. "Subsequently, she picked up the trap with her mouth and carried it to shallower water. Through the trap's netting, she chewed on and manipulated the bait cup until it fell from its attached lid. In the following recorded sequence, the bottom netting of the trap had been torn open and the bait cup removed, carried in her mouth. She dropped the cup, consumed the bait within, and then departed."All this transpired in just three minutes.Artelle and Paquet noted that while another wolf was recorded extracting bait from a partially-submerged trap nearby, it's unclear whether the practice has spread to the broader population, and how it originated."Regardless of the extent to which the wolf truly understood the trap's mechanics," they wrote, "whether this behavior reflected sophisticated understanding or more simplistic trial-and-error learning, the very act of appropriating human tools to achieve a goal is noteworthy."Unlike wolves in other parts of the world, those living on BC's North Coast are relatively isolated, and go about their days largely undisturbed by humans.
