Camera footage from British Columbia captures a female wolf swimming out to a buoy, hauling a crab trap ashore and chewing through the netting to reach bait. Researchers publishing in Ecology and Evolution call it a potential first case of tool use in wild wolves. The traps were set to remove invasive European green crabs; cameras installed in May 2024 revealed the wolf's deliberate, multi-step method. Scientists say the behavior may reflect trial-and-error learning and could be aided by the animals' isolation from human threats.
Wolf Pulls Crab Trap Ashore to Reach Bait — Footage Suggests Possible First Tool Use in Wild Wolves
Camera footage from British Columbia captures a female wolf swimming out to a buoy, hauling a crab trap ashore and chewing through the netting to reach bait. Researchers publishing in Ecology and Evolution call it a potential first case of tool use in wild wolves. The traps were set to remove invasive European green crabs; cameras installed in May 2024 revealed the wolf's deliberate, multi-step method. Scientists say the behavior may reflect trial-and-error learning and could be aided by the animals' isolation from human threats.
12:05 AM, 11/21/2025Science
Camera footage from a remote area of British Columbia shows a female wolf deliberately retrieving a submerged crab trap and chewing through its netting to reach bait. Researchers describe the sequence as a multi-step, goal-directed routine that may represent the first known example of tool use by a wild wolf.
What the footage shows
The recordings, made after traps were set to remove invasive European green crabs, show the wolf swimming to a buoy, seizing it, towing it toward shore, pulling in the attached line, hauling the trap onto the beach and then biting through the netting to access the bait.
'I couldn't believe my eyes when we opened up that camera,' said Kyle Artelle, an environmental biologist. The finding was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
Researchers working with the Heiltsuk First Nation set cameras in May 2024 after noticing several traps had been dragged ashore with their bait removed. Because the traps were anchored in deep water and were never exposed at low tide, the team initially suspected a marine predator.
Interpretation and significance
Scientists caution that calling this definitive tool use requires care. The research team, which includes University of Victoria geography professor Paul Paquet, suggests the wolf may have learned the technique through trial and error. They also note that wolves in remote, low-risk environments may have more opportunity to experiment and develop complex problem-solving behaviors.
Whether this behavior is widespread among wolves remains unknown, but the footage highlights unexpected behavioral flexibility in a species not typically associated with tool use.