Voyageurs Wolf Project, which tracks and studies wolfs and the prey that they kill in Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, has announced a new record for the most beavers killed by one wolf studied by the group in a month! The wolf known as P0C, a breeding male, killed a total of 15 beavers throughout the month of May, with his diet almost entirely taken up by the dam building mammals. The previous record was 10 in a single month.
P0C did kill a deer in early May, and has scavenged both dead deer and beavers, but his drive for hunting live beavers is clearly very high.
“Most of the beavers P0C killed were dispersing beavers that were traveling through small creeks or over land in search of a place to settle down and build a dam. Wolf predation on beavers typically peaks in May because there are so many vulnerable dispersing beavers moving around the woods.” – Voyageurs Wolf Project on Facebook
The male’s current kill count is up to 17 beavers for the summer, and the group is hoping to see him break the record for summer total, which currently sits at 42.
This obviously doesn’t affect the entire world all that much, but it’s definitely fun to see what people are getting excited about across the world, and now I’m excited about this wolf. Hopefully we’ll be able to stay updated on his progress throughout the rest of the summer.
Image Credit: Voyageurs Wolf Project on Facebook