This observation was the result of a HIRMD-led project on addressing a marine invasion of European Green Crab - one of the most destructive invasive species globally. Traps used by the Nation for monitoring and control were continually being damaged. While the damage looked like it could be caused by wolves or bears, some of the traps damaged were set in water too deep to ever be exposed on a low tide. Remote cameras used as part of this project were deployed, pointed at these traps, to gain insights into who was responsible for the damage. Within two days of deploying the traps, a wolf was observed swimming to shore with a crab trap buoy in her mouth, and then proceeded to pull the line and eventually the submerged trap up the beach, where she opened it up to access the bait within. The entire encounter took less than three minutes, with the wolf’s focus and efficiency highlighting her familiarity with this approach. This video solved the who-done-it, while offering an incredible demonstration of the intellectual capacity of these species.

Tool use is a phenomenon that garners a lot of attention in animal behaviour realms. Initially thought to be something only done by humans (and a defining feature of humanity), the late Dr. Jane Goodall first famously showed capacity for tool use in chimpanzees, with further research to follow. Many caution that tool use (or absence thereof) might be a poor predictor of intelligence by itself - some use of tools does not require sophisticated cognition, while other animals might take part in highly sophisticated behaviours that do not require the use of tools. In a situation like this, however, understanding how a human tool works and using it with such efficiency is certainly notable. And while the intelligence of wolves has long been recognized, in some ways this video provides such a striking example of intelligence as to speak for itself. When this video was first shared internally in Bella Bella, including with Haíɫzaqv Guardians whose traps were being destroyed, the immediate reaction was not so much surprise but instead recognition and different variations of “They are so smart!”.

For our project, this represents our first published investigation into the behaviour of these wolves, with questions raised as to whether such behaviours might be especially enabled in an area where wolves face little human persecution, and hence can devote less attention to vigilance (caution) and more to experimentation and creativity. More broadly, when people recognize sophisticated intelligence in other species (such as in large primates), if often brings about greater assumed duty of care and consideration. This finding might cause reconsideration of this species often treated as vermin or worse, including elsewhere in British Columbia where they are killed by the province itself for purposes of wildlife management.

Stay tuned here for further research findings as they are released!