Meet the rare wild wolves that pollinate flowers and sip nectar like bees

Just when we think that there are specific roles that every being plays in the ecosystem, right then , something surprising shows up to remind us that Earth’s ecosystems are far more complex and fascinating than we can imagine.

Carnivores are supposed to hunt, while birds and bees pollinate the flowers. But what happens when those boundaries get blurred and some traits of these living beings go beyond those biology textbooks and long-held assumptions?

Recently one of the most unexpected traits of a canid have been discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia, where Africa’s most endangered carnivore is surprising people by feeding not on prey, but on flowers.

Ethiopian wolves get caught in a sweet act

A study published in Ecology in March 2024, reported a first-of-its-kind behavior of the Ethiopian wolf , a species that was long known for its rodent-hunting lifestyle but this time it was observed feeding on nectar. Specifically, the wolves were seen licking the sweet nectar of the Ethiopian red hot poker flower . This behavior, previously undocumented in the case of any large carnivore, suggests that these rare predators may even be acting as pollinators.

The discovery was made by researchers from the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP), which is a collaborative effort between the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, and Dinkenesh Ethiopia.


These wild canids are flower pollinators!

Researchers observed that individual wolves visited up to 30 flowers in a single foraging trip, with multiple packs engaging in this activity. There was even evidence of social learning, with adult wolves bringing juveniles to these flowering areas.
As the wolves fed, their muzzles became coated in pollen, which suggests a likely role in pollination. This makes them potentially the first known large predator to participate in a plant-pollinator interaction.

“This extremely unique and biodiverse ecosystem remains under threat from habitat loss and fragmentation,” said Dr. Sandra Lai, EWCP Senior Scientist and lead author of the study. “These findings highlight just how much we still have to learn about one of the world’s most-threatened carnivores.” as reported by the Ecology Journal 2024 .

EWCP Director and Oxford professor Claudio Sillero shared his personal encounter with the behavior, “I first became aware of the nectar... when I saw children of shepherds in the Bale Mountains licking the flowers. In no time, I had a taste of it myself, the nectar was pleasantly sweet... I am chuffed that we have now reported this behaviour as being commonplace among Ethiopian wolves and explored its ecological significance.”

Ethiopian Wolves are an endangered species


The Ethiopian wolf is one of the rarest animals on the planet and sadly, also one of the most endangered. Found only in the high mountains of Ethiopia, there are fewer than 500 of them left in the wild. They live in small family packs and mostly hunt rodents in the grassy alpine meadows. They have fiery red coats and fox-like faces, which makes them one of their kind but their survival is under constant threat from habitat loss, disease passed on by domestic dogs, and a changing climate.