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Red Foxes Showed Attraction Rather Than Avoidance as Wolves Recovered in Maremma

Wild red fox on the beach at Marina di Alberese in Maremma Regional Park, Italy
Research · Ecology

A six-year study published in 2026 found that red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) showed a strong spatiotemporal association with recovering wolves (Canis lupus) in Maremma Regional Park in central Italy. Seasonal activity overlap between the two carnivores was high and increased during the study period, while analyses of repeated detections supported attraction rather than avoidance.

The researchers followed the system from the early phase of wolf recolonisation to the period of maximum wolf expansion. Camera traps produced 2,619 wolf detections and 26,195 red fox detections. Fox and wolf detection rates were positively associated in space, and the seasonal temporal-overlap coefficients ranged from 0.70 to 0.94. The coefficient runs from 0, meaning no overlap in activity time, to 1, meaning complete overlap; values this high therefore show that the two species were active at many of the same times of day.

Diet data suggested both facilitation and competition

Diet data added another dimension to the interaction. The team analysed 5,150 red fox scats and 2,849 wolf scats. Ungulates were most frequent in the fox diet during the early phase of wolf recolonisation, but their occurrence declined as wolf abundance increased. Wolf diet was dominated by wild ungulates, while fox hair appeared in only two wolf scats.

The authors interpret the pattern as a mixture of facilitation and competition. Wolf recovery created foraging opportunities for foxes and association prevailed over avoidance, but the apparent benefits decreased as wolves became more abundant, which the researchers suggest may reflect lower availability of leftovers for scavengers.

Sources and image credit

  1. Belardi, I., Lazzeri, L., Pacini, G., Fini, G., Orazi, V., Lovari, S., & Ferretti, F. (2026). Fine-scale spatio-temporal and dietary responses of red foxes to wolf recovery in a mediterranean protected area. Biodiversity and Conservation, 35, 72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-026-03279-yPrimary research article published online 21 February 2026. Over six years in Maremma Regional Park, camera traps recorded 2,619 wolf and 26,195 red fox detections and the study analysed 5,150 fox and 2,849 wolf scats. Red foxes showed high and increasing temporal overlap with wolves, positive spatial association, and recurrent-event patterns supporting attraction rather than avoidance. Ungulates in fox diet peaked early in wolf recolonisation and declined as wolf abundance increased.

Image: Ulissevietato.9449 — red fox (Vulpes vulpes) on the beach at Marina di Alberese in Maremma Regional Park, Tuscany, Italy, photographed 21 June 2008; Wikimedia Commons; representative image from the study area, not a fox recorded in the study · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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