Wolf during the day - between belief and reality

Occasionally, early morning or late afternoon (more rarely between these two periods), a wolf may be spotted on a walk or near villages. Such sightings often clash with our idea of predators and nocturnal species. According to our idea or imagination, nocturnal animals, including wolves, should go deep into the forest at sunrise and only come out again after dark. We imagine them sleeping in their burrow, den or lying under a tree. The reality is very different, much more nuanced than our thoughts. It's true that nocturnal animals prefer to roam and hunt at night, avoiding human presence and, for some of them, gaining advantages that other species may not have. 

The fact that so-called "nocturnal" species are more active at night doesn't mean they have no daytime activities (eating, playing, intra- and inter-species interactions, etc.). In some cases, predators even hunt when predation has been unsuccessful on previous nights. Their social life is also organized during the day, even if it may be less intense: cubs play, sub-adults take part or sometimes go out prospecting, etc. It's true that movements are reduced because of the presence of numerous humans, practising their activities in the wild. But daytime movements are truly existent ! 

Some species, such as deer, also prefer to move around at night, even though they're frequently seen at the beginning or end of the day in meadows and pastures. This is because ruminants need to feed several times a day, particularly roe deer, which can eat up to 8 times a day. Then cervids alternate between ruminating, resting, and going out to feed. We can also cite the example of the fox : for a long time, humans thought of foxes as nocturnal, so that daytime exits were considered to come from sick animals or having some behavioural disorders. Today, we've acquired knowledge and proved that this isn't the case. 

Animals have acquired knowledge over thousands of generations, which they pass on to their offspring. Some of this knowledge comes from the genes, through instincts (protection, survival, etc.), while others come from education, experience and learning - what we call epigenetics (1). We could mention the famous "fear" of human, who's considered a predator, even by wolves. This fear can only be alleviated when animals have gone through a sort of habituation (feeding by human, leaving waste near residential areas over a long period of time, or by domestication), or if they haven't been hunted by human for several generations. This behavioral change can be observed in the Abruzzo (Italy), where deer don't hesitate to pass through villages throughout the day or even establishing in residential areas, after 70 years without human hunting. Rabies, a disease that attacks the canid's brain, also reduces human fear and causes a certain aggressiveness, but by chance this mortal sickness has now disappeared from Switzerland since the 90s.

So things are clear : the loss of human fear doesn't happen in the blink of an eye, and much less for no reason at all ! Humans also often have the wrong idea about how an animal should react to encounters, especially especially when it inspires fear. Once again, a number of factors need to be taken into account when assessing the situation, depending on the animal's reactions, the time it takes to flee, its behavior and so on. 

The wolf

Let's talk "practical" now : when a wolf or other nocturnal animal is spotted during the day, it may also be due to human disturbance, as people roam the forests and mountains all year round, without exception. Human then forces wildlife to move or flee, taking it out of its protected zone and into the open. They will be seen, and may come near a residential area or the presence of humans. This happens quite frequently. 

Dispersing sub-adults, which may have had little interaction with human civilization, may be more curious and not run away as quickly as we'd like. Wandering through territory that may be unfamiliar to them, they may find themselves in a residential area or out in the open, by accident. But most of the time, these encounters last only a very short time, the wolf fleeing as soon as he spots a human. However, wolves and wildlife in general don't associate humans with cars and other machines. Then their behavior is different, encounters may last longer and the animal will flee only when it has spotted humans by smell, sight or sound.  

These daytime encounters, sometimes close to our villages, aren't a behavioral anomaly or a clear sign of immediate danger. Other factors must be taken into account when assessing the danger posed by a situation or a predator, such as as the duration of the wolf's presence, the distance separating him from humans (and their tolerance in this respect), his behaviour, the frequency with which he comes close by, and so on. The wolf is rarely seen during the day, if we take into account the number of wolves present, the extent of their movements within their territory, the thousands of kilometers they cover each year, and the number of reported encounters of this type.

The presence of a wolf must be systematically reported to wildlife wardens in residential areas, so that surveillance can be put in place. However, the presence of lone wolves, as sometimes happens, is often fleeting, lasting only a few minutes. If the wolf remains very close from residential areas for several days (more than 3, according to the law), it's then necessary to carry out scare tactics. If these fail to produce the desired effect, lethal shooting will be ordered. In fact, a healthy wolf, without any health problem, won't seek proximity to humans over a long period of time, apart from chance encounters. We can therefore conclude that a wolf remaining near villages, without necessarily fleeing, is a sick, wounded or old wolf, often no longer able to hunt and thus feed itself. In these circumstances, even with our domestic animals, we know that reactions and behaviour can change. This increases the risk of attacks on flocks, but also of defensive bites, even if this has only happened extremely rarely and often in conjunction with inappropriate human behaviour (lack of awareness).

Knowledge

So it's important that we learn about wildlife, its instincts and behaviours, so that we can apply the right methods and reflexes. In addition to behavioral measures such as avoiding running, provoking and staying still and calm, we can also talk about never feeding wildlife (even in winter, whatever the species) and avoiding leaving garbage and rubbish bags lying around. This is often the main cause of the very rare incidents involving foxes or wolves. In fact, once wolves connect easy food with humans, they can become emboldened, less wary and more insistent. Add to this a lack of knowledge about how to deal with canids, and the problems begin. Then humans have a major role to play in improving their knowledge of animals, both domestic and wild, and in applying the right methodology.

In conclusion : seeing wolves at the beginning or end of the day isn't the result of (pathological) behavioural disorders, nor of a loss of humans fear. A nocturnal animal, a predator or any other wild animal seen near a residential area for a short time (both in terms of duration and frequency) isn't considered having any deviant or abnormal behavior. We simply need to keep an eye on them, and learn how to behave. It will clearly help us to deal with predators more effectively.

Dictionary

(1) epigenetics: relating to the inheritance of characters, modifications and information that aren't carried by genes but learned through education, learning and experience.

Article : TT - Wolf Mission
Pictures : Wolf Mission, Le Nouvelliste.