Pair of Rare Black Wolves Caught on Camera in Poland

Evolving digital camera technology has had wide-ranging impacts on many fields, including science and conservation, where trail cameras have been an invaluable way for biologists to observe and study elusive animals safely. Wildlife researchers in Poland recently got a rare look at a pair of black wolves, an exceedingly unusual rare sight in Europe.

While black wolves are not unusual in North America — half the wolves in Yellowstone National Park are black — European wolves are primarily gray.

As Associated Press reports, black wolf fur results from a genetic mutation “that was likely in domesticated dogs thousands of years ago.” While North America’s wolf population is relatively large and genetically diverse, thanks primarily to Canada’s more than 60,000 wolves, Europe’s population is significantly smaller and less genetically diverse.

In Poland specifically, where the black wolves were spotted on a game camera set up by the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland’s project coordinator, Joanna Toczydłowska, there are an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 wolves. The population is actually remarkable, given that wolves were essentially extinct there in the 1950s. Wolves have been protected in Poland since 1995, and the population has rebounded significantly.

The SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland has been studying and monitoring wolves for the past 13 years. However, the specific camera that spied the black wolves was actually set up to observe beavers in a stream. The organization is not disclosing where the wolves were seen in order to protect them, but Toczydłowska believes the two wolves are siblings and roughly a year old.

The team is now collecting scat samples to study the genetic makeup of the black wolves in hopes of learning more about the melanistic mutation. The organization is soliciting financial help to pay for the expensive testing.

The conservationists work hard to educate the public about how to live safely alongside wolves. After all, fear of wolves has historically played a massive role in declining populations.

“For people, it is a new phenomenon,” Roman Gula, head of the organization’s wolf monitoring project, told the AP. “Education is one of our major, major goals.”

Image credits: Featured homepage image licensed via Depositphotos.