I just love this finding: Ethiopian wolves appear to act as pollinators, incidentally collecting pollen on their muzzles while foraging for nectar in patches of the native perennial Kniphofia foliosa, a relative of the red hot poker plants cultivated by gardeners.

Individual wolves, busy as bees, visited up to 30 of the nectar-dripping flowers, according to a report in Ecology by Sandra Lai and others with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme. They followed six wolves foraging in patches of the flowers over four consecutive days in late May and early June of 2023.

 “Typically, the wolf approached a stalk and licked the most mature flowers located at the bottom of the inflorescence and containing the most nectar. Time spent lapping nectar from an inflorescence ranged between 3 and 15 s. While four wolves visited a few inflorescences, two visited 20 and 30 inflorescences consecutively during a foray within a flower patch. After feeding on an inflorescence, pollen could clearly be seen deposited on the wolf’s muzzle. This behavior highlights the inclusion of nectar in the diet of Ethiopian wolves, but more importantly, it may represent a rare case of potential plant–pollinator interaction involving a large carnivore. Moreover, since these observations covered several individuals from different packs, it indicates that this behavior is not incidental but rather widespread within the population, suggesting its transmission to other individuals potentially through social learning.”