New report now available online on bold wolf behaviour across Europe

The technical report “Bold wolf behaviour: definitions and analysis of reported past cases across Europe” is now available online on our website in the download section. It was written in the frame of the LIFE WILD WOLF  workpackage 3 in collaboration with the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE) https://www.lcie.org/, a specialist group of the International Union for Nature Conservation that deals with large European predators.

The report aims to provide a clear definition of wolf habituated and bold behaviours and identify eventual recurring patterns in past reported cases. The presence of wolves in human-dominated landscapes increases the likelihood of encounters with humans, but only some situations can cause concerns and require management intervention. Therefore, the goal is to provide a clear and authoritative guidance to identify wolf behaviours that potentially give rise to risky situations, in order to eventually trigger prompt management procedures aimed at preventing unnecessary fear and ensuring an adequate and appropriate response.

The project staff define Habituation as the loss of natural reaction of alert behaviour after being repeatedly exposed to the same stimulus, represented by human presence and activities. Habituation is an adaptive process and, in human-dominated landscapes, can alter the wild behaviour of wolves. Given their large spatial requirements, it is impossible for European wolves to entirely avoid human settlements, infrastructure, or even people.  If habituation to human-related features per se is not threatening, strong habituation could potentially lead to risky behaviours. Strong habituation is defined when a wolf allows people to repeatedly approach at short distances without moving away. Therefore, in the case of strong habituation, the wolf appears to not care about the presence of people, being recognizable as people (habituation to cars, tractors etc... is a different case, as they are not being recognized as people ). When an adult wolf repeatedly tolerates humans at a distance of less than 30 m is showing strong habituation, as most wolves have a much longer flight distance. When wolves take the risk and repeatedly approach people (being recognizable as people) at a short distance (30 m or less) they show bold behaviour. The reiteration is key for such classification: a wolf that approaches people once in its lifetime is not classified as showing bold behaviour.

Between 2012 and 2022, LWW staff collected and analyzed detailed information on human-wolf close encounters that met our criteria for strong habituation and bold behaviour. Cases still ongoing at the end of 2022 were excluded from the analysis. Data were gathered from eight project countries—Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden—as well as other locations across Europe, thanks to the collaboration of experts from EU Member States, including members of the project’s scientific committee and the IUCN Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE). Information on each case was obtained from a variety of sources, including scientific literature, reports, media coverage, and interviews with individuals directly involved. Each case was compiled into a standardized overview, documenting key details such as the environmental context, circumstances of the encounter, the shortest distance between the wolf and the human, wolf and human behavior, the presence of attractants (e.g., dogs), and any management interventions undertaken. Strong habituation usually develops in case of positive conditioning, a form of associative learning process whereby animals associate the presence of humans or human-related features to advantage, either for play, food sources or refuge. 

In total, we recorded 19 cases of wolves showing bold behaviour and one case of strong habituation, with most instances involving a single wolf. The majority of encounters and sightings were reported during daylight hours. The age of the wolves was determined in 16 cases, revealing that 87% were young individuals—mostly yearlings, and in three cases, even pups. This finding aligns with studies suggesting that young and dispersing wolves are more likely to exhibit bold behavior than adults. In contrast, sex did not appear to influence the development of bold behavior or strong habituation, as both males and females were equally represented. Additionally, in two cases, the wolves were in poor physical condition, which may have impaired their ability to hunt.

A detailed analysis of these cases indicates that strongly habituated and bold wolves often result from human-related factors. At least two cases likely involved wolves that had been kept in captivity before their encounters with humans. Food played a significant role in more than half of the reported cases—either through direct feeding by humans or the availability of accessible food sources—both of which contribute to wolves losing their natural wariness of people. The presence of dogs was also an element involved in the majority of cases.

Preventing the development of bold behavior requires proactive measures to address both wolf and human behavior. This includes immediate intervention when conditions that encourage habituation are identified, with the first priority being the removal of attractants. However, this step was implemented in only one of the analyzed cases with immediate intervention. In some situations, identifying and eliminating attractants may not be feasible—particularly when a wolf is primarily interested in dogs rather than food. These cases tend to be more complex and challenging to prevent or resolve compared to those involving food conditioning.

The recovery of the wolf population in today's Europe inevitably leads to increasing likelihoods of human-wolf encounters. It is important to effectively address this challenge. This report provides a clear, evidence-based guidance to mitigate risks and provide insights to ensure effective, appropriate, and timely handling of potentially hazardous situations.

Download the full report here.