Strongly habituated and bold wolves: Insights from Europe

Wolves have been recovering across human-dominated Europe, successfully recolonizing large parts of the continent thanks to their remarkable adaptability. Although wolves generally avoid direct contact with humans, in this scenario, it would not be realistic to expect them entirely avoiding human settlements, infrastructures, or even people under some circumstances. Such recovery inevitably increases the likelihood of encounters between wolves and people. Increasing public concerns on the potential outcomes from close interactions between wolves and people demands a better understanding of what type of wolf behaviours or situations could lead to a potentially risky situation to human safety. Understanding such early warning signs is crucial for the timing and implementation of appropriate management interventions. Here, we propose definitions for strongly habituated and bold wolves, as we assume they are those that pose a higher risk to human safety. Our definitions assume a recurrence of unwanted behaviours over time. We collected cases from 2012 to 2022 across Europe in which wolves repeatedly approached people or allowed people to approach at close distance. Although there is a lack of homogenous definitions for strongly habituated or bold wolves across Europe, systematic monitoring of potential cases, and awareness and motivations to report cases, so far, available information suggest that these cases are rare events. Overall, 21 records from six countries matched the criteria to qualify as cases of strongly habituated or bold wolves, an average of 1.9 cases annually. Remarkably, inappropriate human actions were a key factor in the development of undesirable behaviour in wolves.