What’s new:
One of the world’s rarest carnivores, the Ethiopian wolf, enjoys snacking on flower nectar, a new study has found. This wolf is, in fact, the first large carnivore documented feeding on nectar and leaving with a pollen-laden nose and mouth, possibly making it the only large meat-eating predator that also serves as a plant-pollinator.
What the study says:
- Researchers from the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme (EWCP) say that over the years, they have opportunistically come across the endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), found only in the Ethiopian highlands, feeding on the nectar of flowers of the red hot poker (Kniphofia foliosa), a herb that’s also endemic to Ethiopia. The flower’s sweet nectar is known to attract insects and birds, and even other mammals such as human children, domestic dogs, olive baboons (Papio anubis) and mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni). The local Oromo community also uses the nectar as a sweetener for food such as coffee.
- To further investigate the behavior, the study’s authors followed six Ethiopian wolves, from three different wolf packs, over four days between May and June 2023. The researchers found that nectar-eating behavior is widespread among the different packs: the wolves, while moving through a K. foliosa flower field, would stop and lick the most mature flowers containing the most nectar, and leave with pollen deposited on their muzzle.
- The researchers write the wolves’ attraction to the flowers is “remarkable” since each wolf was observed visiting up to 30 flowers, spending from a minute to more than an hour in a flower field.
- Sandra Lai, EWCP senior scientist and the study’s lead author, told New Scientist that nectar feeding is unusual for large carnivores like wolves “due to the lack of physical adaptations, such as a long tongue or specialised snout.” She added that most flowers are also too fragile or produce little nectar for such animals.
What this means:
Weighing up to 16 kilograms (35 pounds) and sustained by a diet of rodents, Ethiopian wolves are unlikely to be consuming nectar for energy, the researchers write. Instead, they speculate that the nectar could be more of a “dessert” for the wolves. Moreover, when consuming nectar, the wolves’ muzzles get covered in pollen, suggesting that this may be “a rare case of potential plant-pollinator interaction involving a large carnivore,” the researchers write.
However, to further understand and establish the role of Ethiopian wolves as a pollinator, more research is needed.
“These findings highlight just how much we still have to learn about one of the world’s most-threatened carnivores,” Lai said in a news release. “It also demonstrates the complexity of interactions between different species living on the beautiful Roof of Africa. This extremely unique and biodiverse ecosystem remains under threat from habitat loss and fragmentation.”
Banner image of an Ethiopian wolf feeding on the nectar of red hot poker flowers, courtesy of Adrien Lesaffre.
Credits
