First large carnivore pollinator because it eats nectar

Nov. 22 () –

For the first time, it has been documented that a carnivorous predator, the Ethiopian wolf, feeds on the nectar of flowers, unprecedented plant-pollinator interaction involving an animal of this type.

The study was carried out by researchers from the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Program (EWCP), a partnership between the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford, the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority ( EWCA) and Dinkenesh Ethiopia.

They observed that some individual wolves visited up to 30 flowers of the planet Kniphofia foliosa in a single tripand that several wolves from different packs exploited this resource. There was also some evidence of social learning, as the young were taken to the flower fields along with the adults.

While foraging, wolves’ snouts become covered in pollen, which they may transfer from one flower to another as they feed. This novel behavior is perhaps the first known interaction between a plant and a pollinator involving a large predator, as well as the only large carnivorous predator ever observed feeding on nectar.

Dr. Sandra Lai, a senior scientist at the EWCP based at the University of Oxford and lead author of the new study, said in a statement: “These findings highlight how much we still have to learn about one of the world’s most endangered carnivores. It also demonstrates the complexity of the interactions between the different species that live on the beautiful Roof of Africa. This extremely unique and biodiverse ecosystem remains under threat due to habitat loss and fragmentation.

The Ethiopian wolf is the rarest wild canid species in the world and the most endangered carnivore in Africa. It is found only in the Ethiopian highlands, and fewer than 500 individuals survivein 99 herds restricted to 6 Afro-Alpine enclaves. EWCP is the longest-running conservation program in Ethiopia, which aims to safeguard the future of natural habitats for the benefit of wildlife and people in the Ethiopian highlands.

The study has been published in the journal Ecology.