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Red Fox Was Filmed Attacking and Likely Preying on a Wolf Pup in Italy

Camera-trap frame showing a red fox at a wolf den during the documented attack on a wolf pup in Castelporziano, Italy
Research · Ecology

Camera traps at a wolf den in central Italy recorded a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) repeatedly attacking and likely preying on an approximately one-month-old gray wolf (Canis lupus) pup. The observation, published in 2026, is the first video-documented case of a red fox attacking a wolf pup.

The event occurred on the night of 16 May 2025 in the Castelporziano Presidential Estate, a protected area on the outskirts of Rome. Researchers had installed five camera traps around a secondary den used by the local wolf pack. At 22:51 UTC, while adult wolves were away from the den, a red fox entered the burrow. It emerged dragging a live pup, which escaped and returned inside. Seconds later the fox entered again and captured a pup whose distress calls were audible on the recording.

The recording did not capture the final outcome

The recording ended immediately after the second capture, so the fox was not filmed leaving with the pup and consumption was not directly observed. Before the event, two pups had repeatedly appeared on camera. Afterwards, only one was detected despite intensive monitoring around the den and nearby routes. The surviving pup was later recorded with pack members, while the second pup was never seen again.

Food shortage was considered an unlikely explanation

The authors note that the estate supported high densities of wild ungulates, making food shortage an unlikely explanation for the event. They interpret it instead as an expression of the red fox’s highly opportunistic feeding strategy. The wolf pack abandoned the secondary den two days later. Red foxes had continued to be recorded nearby, and the authors note that the timing is consistent with earlier reports that perceived threats to pups can trigger early den relocation, without demonstrating that the fox caused the move.

Sources and image credit

  1. Buelli, C., Zanni, M., Brogi, R., Cavazza, S., Corbia, M., Luccarini, S., & Apollonio, M. (2026). First video-documented observation of red fox preying upon a wolf pup at a den site. Current Zoology, zoag009. https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoag009Primary open-access report published 13 February 2026 under CC BY 4.0. Five camera traps at a wolf den in Castelporziano Presidential Estate documented a red fox repeatedly attacking an approximately one-month-old wolf pup on 16 May 2025. The recording ended immediately after the second capture, so consumption was not directly observed; only one of the two pups was detected afterwards.

Image: Buelli et al. — cropped camera-trap frame from the Figure 1 sequence documenting a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) at the secondary wolf den during the attack on an approximately one-month-old gray wolf (Canis lupus) pup; Castelporziano Presidential Estate, outskirts of Rome, Italy, night of 16 May 2025; image from the actual reported event, not a representative photograph; Current Zoology / Oxford University Press; CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · Source

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