Minnesota Wolf Exhibits Unusual Animal Behavior, Displays Indifference Towards Humans

A skinny wolf was observed acting unusually in Minnesota for several days, which experts have characterized as unusual animal behavior given the wolf's lack of concern and indifference to people.

Little to no fear at all is being displayed by the young wolf toward humans. This is highly unusual for these animals claims a Facebook post from the Voyageurs Wolf Project (VWP), which studies wolves and their prey in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem.

The organization said that some people have unsuccessfully attempted to startle it and get it off the road. The wolf is not acting violently or otherwise hostile toward people. Its disregard for people over several days is not typical behavior, though.

Voyageurs National Park

The area in and around Voyageurs National Park, a sizable protected area encompassing almost 220,000 acres throughout northern Minnesota close to the Canadian border, is part of the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' most recent population estimates indicates that there are more than 2,600 wolves in the state.

The young wolf was mentioned in a post on the Voyageurs Wolf Project's Facebook page, along with images that were posted during various sightings by the Ash River somewhere south of the park over the previous four days.

Hungry Wolf, Indifferent Wolf

Some of the witnesses claimed to have seen the wolf chasing and devouring grasshoppers close to the road.

Although wolves don't typically eat grasshoppers, this is the most difficult time of year for the predators, and they will look wherever they can for food, according to the VWP. The wolf in question appears to be nearly skin and bones in several pictures, despite the project's claims that it appears to be in good health.

According to VWP, wolves at this time of year often appear much skinnier than this wolf does. The fact that wolves hunt more sparingly now than in the winter may seem counterintuitive. The project claimed that rather than the availability of prey, the most important factor is the toughness of the animals they hunt.

VWP claimed in a previous Facebook post that pup starvation is caused by prey vulnerability-or lack thereof-rather than by a lack of available prey. In all areas of the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, there is enough prey to support wolf packs, but wolves cannot just go out and kill prey whenever they want at any time of the year.

Instead, wolves can only kill prey that is weak to attack. For instance, a wolf's territory may contain 1,000 deer during the summer, but if every deer is in excellent physical condition, only very few deer would be in a weak condition or "available" to wolves. However, in the winter, when the 1,000 deer are weaker physically, wolves may have access to a sizable number of weaker deer.

The VWP stated that the wolf seen over the past few days' unusual indifference to humans cannot be explained by the possibility that it is hungry.

According to VWP, nearly every wolf at this time of year is starving to death and shrinking in size. In essence, many are slowly starving while attempting to survive until the fall and winter, when hunting success increases. However, even when extremely hungry, typical wolves do not behave in this way.

Read also: 11 Newborns Join Whaleback, Lessen Wolfpacks, Adding to Scarce Wolf Numbers in California 

Other Possible Causes

 The VWP clarified that it is uncertain at this time whether the wolf has a disease and there could be other explanations for the wolf's unusual behavior. Some people commenting on social media speculated that the wolf may have a disease.

VWP hopes that in this situation, the wolf is simply left alone and eventually returns to the forest, acting like a typical wolf and avoiding humans.

According to some comments left on the wolf's photographs, the animal looks more like a coyote than a wolf. The VWP, however, asserted that this was untrue.

VWP explains that numerous physical characteristics of the animal, such as its size and body structure overall, the length of its legs in relation to its body size, and its blockier-looking face than that of a coyote, make it simple to identify it as a wolf. Coyotes have a "squattier" body type than wolves, who are leaner and have lengthier legs like this wolf.

The project added that It can be difficult to tell young wolves from coyotes sometimes. During the summer, many people mistake small wolves for coyotes because, at that time, wolves have light, thin coats, according to the VWP.

VWP also said that wolves look different with their light summer coat as compared to their thick winter coat. Furthermore, the wolves in the region are on the smaller side and do not resemble the large wolves that you see in northern Canada or western North America, Newsweek reports.

Related article: "Conflict Between Wolves and Humans" Becomes the Reason Behind Swedish Government's Decision to Cull Wolf Population by Half