‘Striking’ footage captures the moment a red fox preys on a wolf pup — a behavior never seen on film before

abdulmanannet77@gmail.comMarch 6, 2026

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‘Striking’ footage captures the moment a red fox preys on a wolf pup — a behavior never seen on film before

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Striking, one-of-a-kind footage has captured the moment a red fox attacked a month-old gray wolf cub in a nature reserve in Italy.

Monitoring of scientists gray wolves (Dog lupus) in the presidential estate of Castelporziano, a nature reserve located about 25 kilometers from Rome, had noticed a female with a swollen abdomen. GPS monitors showed her repeatedly visiting a secondary den, suggesting she had already given birth.

At this point, the clip cuts away, so the footage does not show the fox or the pup leaving the den, but researchers believe the fox likely ate the cub.

The study documenting this observation was published February 13 in the journal Current zoology.

Mortality rates among Cub Scouts are high, approximately 40% to 60% Cubs die every year. They usually die from starvation, disease, extreme weather conditions and poor physical condition. But this video shows that predation may also play a small role in their high mortality rates.

The article is part of a long-term project led by the study co-author Marco Apollonioresearcher at the University of Sassari, to better understand wolves in Italy.

Tracking cub birth and survival rates is important to help researchers better understand long-term population dynamics, said the study’s lead author. Celeste Buellidoctoral student at the University of Sassari, who led the fieldwork and monitoring of the den. But it’s not easy.

Direct observations of young wolves dying are rare because they spend their time in dens that are difficult to monitor, she said. The images are “striking” because they show an “intense event with a very young animal,” she told Live Science.

Co-author of the study Rudy Brogia researcher from the University of Sassari, told Live Science that it’s likely the fox ate the cub, because foxes are generally opportunistic eaters, meaning they don’t rely on a specific type of prey and adapt their diet based on availability. In later images, only one puppy can be seen.

It could also be that the fox simply chased competitors from the area. But Brogi thinks this is unlikely given that foxes sometimes take advantage of wolves by scavenging their prey remains.

David MacDonaldzoologist at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, spent decades researching foxes and was not involved in the study. He told Live Science that competing species may kill or attack each other, but this behavior “usually involves the larger canids harassing or even killing the smaller ones.”

It’s unclear from one video whether this behavior is common. Brogi said it’s “plausible” that this happens more often than reported, but that additional research from “multiple haunts and contexts” is needed.

Buelli, C., Zanni, M., Brogi, R., Cavazza, S., Corbia, M., Luccarini, S. and Apollonio, M. (2026). First video-documented sighting of a red fox attacking a cub in a den. Current zoology. https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoag009