Wolves: The unexpected pollinator

A new study has shed light on one more surprising way wolves benefit the wild world around them.

In the emerald hills of the Ethiopian highlands, cylindrical red and gold flowers dot the landscape like rows of popsicles. Out of the scrubby underbrush emerges a wolf — small and thin, with a pointed snout and crimson fur. He’s here for an afternoon snack.

Every year, when the Ethiopian red hot poker blooms, these slim, fox-like wolves come out of the hills to lick nectar off of the flower’s bright blooms. As the wolves make their way from flower to flower, they bring a muzzle covered in pollen with them, which researchers believe could turn these sweet-toothed canines into inadvertent pollinators.

This is the first time researchers have observed this type of behavior in large carnivores. The study suggests that Ethiopian wolves learn this behavior from one another, and that an individual can visit as many as 30 stalks in one sugar-filled afternoon.

Discoveries like this just go to show how much we still have to learn about these incredible creatures.

What do we know for sure? Wolves are social, intelligent and intimately and inextricably connected to the ecosystems they inhabit. And — like many of us — they won’t say no to a sugary treat if they have the chance.