A world rarity: footage has captured a red fox preying on a one-month-old wolf cub in Italy. The astonishing recording sheds new light on the relationship between the two predators, proving that sometimes the “smaller” one can strike back.

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Wolves and foxes have shared European forests for millennia, but until now the hierarchy was believed to be clear: the wolf is dominant. However, researchers from the University of Sassari have now recorded a scene on the Castelporziano presidential estate that shocked even experts. A night-vision camera captured a red fox sneaking into a wolf den, then leaving seconds later with a lifeless cub in their mouth. But is this an isolated case, or do foxes thin out wolf offspring more often than we thought?

Scientists may have witnessed a seemingly novel scene

When the Hunter Becomes the Prey

Italian scientists were monitoring the local wolf population as part of a project when their camera recorded a red fox entering a den. The observation focused on a female wolf tracked with GPS collars, whose swollen belly already indicated pregnancy. The cameras showed two male wolf cubs playing in front of the den when the red fox appeared. Fortunately, one of the cubs managed to escape the attack.

According to the researchers, the fox likely consumed their prey, as later recordings showed only a single wolf cub remaining. The study about the discovery was published on 13 February 2026 in the journal Current Zoology.

Wolf Cub Mortality

Wolf cub mortality is generally high (40–60%), typically caused by starvation, disease, or extreme weather. However, this video proves that predators – even smaller ones – may also play a role.

According to researcher Rudy Brogi, the fox is an opportunistic predator: they eat whatever is available. Although foxes often benefit from wolves, for example by consuming their leftovers, in this case the easy prey proved to be a stronger instinct. David Macdonald, a zoologist at the University of Oxford, added that although larger canids often harass or kill smaller ones, the reverse situation is extremely rare and difficult to document.

Gayler Krisztina, a wolf observer at Yellowstone National Park, told We Love Dogz:

The world of predators is fundamentally opportunistic; anything can happen within it, and anything can occur between individuals. The fact that we have not observed certain behaviours before does not mean they do not exist, even if they are rare.

“It is not inconceivable, for example, that a lone mother wolf, or in the absence of young parents, a strong, older fox, jackal, or coyote could take advantage of an opportunity. No matter how beautiful or ‘cute’ we may see them, they are in reality ruthless predators who, for daily survival, fight not only to obtain food but are also in constant struggle with larger rivals.” – said the expert.

Tracking wolf pup birth and survival rates is important to help researchers better understand longer-term population dynamics. Direct observations of wolf pup deaths are rare as they spend their time in hard-to-monitor dens, she said. The footage is "striking" as it shows an "intense event with a very young animal.

-said Celeste Buelli, a doctoral student at the University of Sassari who led the fieldwork and den observations.

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