Wolves debunk fairy tales, favor deer over piglets in research

Wolves didn’t live up to “big, bad wolf” notoriety in a study by German researchers, preferring a diet of wild deer to the canine’s fairy tale intake of little pigs and kid goats.

German scientists studied the feeding habits of wolves in the country’s Lusatia region near the border with Poland by testing more than 3,000 wolf droppings for remains of the animals’ prey, the Senckenberg Research Institute wrote in an online report.

Wolves were wiped out in Germany and returned more than 10 years ago, migrating from Poland in the east, according to the report. The carnivore’s reputation for tearing apart sheep, eating household pets and attacking people means not everyone is happy with the return of the wild animal, the institute wrote.

“The feeding habits of Canis lupus are the subject of many legends and fables,” the institute wrote. “The results are reassuring. The proportion of livestock on the menu lies at less than 1 percent.”

The researchers found wild hoofed animals accounted for more than 96 percent of the wolves’ prey, according to the study. Legal protection for wolves was introduced in Germany in 1990, and it took more than a decade for the predators to make themselves at home in the country, the institute wrote.

“The dietary habits of wolves have been the greatest point of contention with their return to Germany,” Hermann Ansorge, head of the Zoology Department at the Goerlitz, Germany-based Senckenberg Museum of Natural History, was cited as saying.

Deer Diet

Roe deer accounted for 55 percent of the German wolf diet, red deer for 21 percent and wild boar for 18 percent, the researchers found. Hares accounted for almost 3 percent of prey, based on the study.

Nine wolf packs now live in Lusatia, with about 34 young, according to the institute.

“The potential for conflict between man and wolf is very low,” Ansorge said. “As long as sheep and other livestock are well protected and there is a sufficient supply of wild animals, the wolves will not risk confrontation with electric fences and guardian dogs.”