Wild Wolf Filmed Pulling Up Submerged Crab Trap — Could This Be Tool Use?

Biologists working on the central coast of British Columbia recorded a female wolf dragging a submerged crab trap ashore, opening the bait canister and eating a piece of herring. The traps were deployed by the Heiltsuk (Haíɫzaqv) Nation as part of an environmental stewardship program to control the invasive European green crab, which threatens local marine ecosystems.

Researchers installed motion-activated cameras to determine what was damaging traps—initially suspecting otters or seals. Instead, one camera captured a wolf swimming to shore with a buoy in her mouth. She dropped the buoy, seized the attached line, and pulled until a trap rose from the water. The wolf hauled the trap into shallow water, pried open the bait canister and ate the bait.

What the researchers say

Kyle Artelle, an assistant professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a coauthor of the study, described the sequence as a deliberate, multi-step problem-solving act. "It's a sequence of behaviors that ultimately gets her toward that goal. It's problem-solving, and it's problem-solving exactly the way humans do it," he said, noting the wolf appeared focused and efficient rather than playful.

The team captured at least one other interaction between a different wolf and a trap, though that recording did not clearly show whether the trap was fully retrieved. Artelle suggested the wolves may have learned the behavior either by observing people lowering traps from boats or by first accessing traps exposed at extremely low tides and gradually figuring out how to reach deeper ones.

Is this tool use?

The observation has prompted debate among animal-behavior experts about whether the wolf's actions qualify as tool use. Artelle argues the behavior meets common definitions—using an external object to achieve a goal—even if the animal did not construct or modify the trap. "If a human had done what the wolf did, no one would hesitate to call it tool use," he said.

Others are more cautious. Bradley Smith, a senior lecturer in psychology, notes that some definitions require orienting or modifying an object for it to be classed as tool use, and he therefore views this case as a nontraditional example. Marc Bekoff, an emeritus professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, praised the findings and highlighted future questions about whether other wolves will learn the technique and whether it could spread culturally. Alex Kacelnik, an emeritus professor of behavioral ecology, emphasized that the important questions are how the behaviour is learned and what controls it once acquired.

Why it matters

Beyond the label, the footage provides a clear example of higher-order problem-solving and reveals how adaptable wolves can be when ecological conditions allow exploration. The researchers note that the Heiltsuk territory is one of the few places where wolves are not heavily hunted or trapped, which may give them more opportunity to experiment with complex behaviors.

The study describing the observations was published on November 17 in the journal Ecology and Evolution.