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Images Recorded on May 16, 2025 at the Presidential Reserve of Castelporziano, About 25 Kilometers from Rome, Show a Red Fox Entering a Gray Wolf Den and Coming Out with a Pup Just One Month Old in Its Mouth, Rare Event Documented by Scientists During Long-Term Monitoring of the Species
Unprecedented images captured the moment a red fox entered a den and captured a one-month-old gray wolf pup at the Presidential Reserve of Castelporziano in Italy. The episode was documented by scientists monitoring wolves in the area.
Cameras Record Red Fox Entering Wolf Den
The recording was made on May 16, 2025 during a scientific project tracking gray wolves in the nature reserve located about 25 kilometers from Rome. The video shows a red fox entering directly into a den used by a female wolf.
Cameras positioned in the area had recorded, a few days prior, two male pups exploring the surroundings of the den. The researchers were monitoring the family after detecting signs that the female had recently given birth.
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According to scientists, the suspicion arose when the female wolf appeared with a swollen abdomen. GPS data showed that she was repeatedly visiting a secondary den, behavior that indicated the presence of pups.
Red Fox Attack Was Captured by Cameras
In the video, the red fox enters the den while the pups were inside the underground shelter. The first pup manages to escape immediately after the invasion.
Seconds later, the fox reappears at the entrance of the den carrying one of the pups in its mouth. The recording ends abruptly at this moment, without showing what happened next.
The researchers state that the outcome does not appear in the images. Nevertheless, they consider it likely that the pup was consumed by the fox.
Study Was Published in Scientific Journal
The observation was documented in a study published on February 13 in the scientific journal Current Zoology. The work is part of a long-term project aimed at better understanding the wolves living in Italy.
The research is led by Marco Apollonio, a researcher at the University of Sassari. The study tracks reproduction, survival, and behavior of wolf populations in different areas of the country.
Celeste Buelli, a doctoral student at the same university and the study’s lead author, led the fieldwork and monitoring of the dens. According to her, tracking the birth and survival of pups is essential to understand the population dynamics of wolves.
Mortality Among Wolf Pups Can Reach 60%
Data cited by the researchers indicate that mortality among wolf pups is high. Approximately 40% to 60% of pups die every year.
The main causes tend to be hunger, diseases, extreme weather conditions, and poor physical condition. The video suggests that predation may also contribute, albeit on a smaller scale, to these losses.
Buelli stated that direct records of pup deaths are rare. This occurs because they spend a large part of their time inside underground dens, which are difficult to monitor continuously.
Scientists Discuss Red Fox Behavior
Rudy Brogi, a co-author of the study and a researcher at the University of Sassari, stated that the red fox likely fed on the captured pup. According to him, foxes are opportunistic predators.
This behavior means that they do not depend on a single type of prey. Their diet tends to vary according to the resources available in the environment.
Brogi also mentioned another possibility for the observed behavior. Theoretically, the fox could be eliminating competitors from the area.
He considers this hypothesis unlikely. According to the researcher, foxes sometimes benefit from the presence of wolves by consuming remains of prey left by them.
Event May Be More Common Than Recorded
After the episode, new images showed only one pup near the den. This reinforces the hypothesis that the animal captured by the fox did not survive.
David Macdonald, a zoologist at the University of Oxford who did not participate in the study, stated that rival species can kill or prey on each other. However, this type of interaction usually involves larger canids attacking smaller ones.
The researchers state that it is impossible to determine if the behavior of the red fox is common based on a single record. According to Brogi, it is plausible that similar episodes occur more frequently.
He states that new research will be necessary to confirm this possibility. To do so, it will be necessary to monitor multiple dens and different ecological contexts.
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