WATCH: First-Ever Video of a Red Fox Attacking a Wolf Pup Shows Disturbing Animal Hierarchy Swap

Wolves are one of the fiercest predators. Keeping a watchful eye for prey is their nature, and it's usually unlikely that the tables are turned. However, in a recent incident, a wolf pup was preyed upon by a red fox. Trap-camera footage from an Italian reserve initially showed two pups going inside a burrow after scouring on the surface for some time. One after another, the wolf pups entered what they assumed would be a safe space. Unfortunately, a red fox within the reserve spotted the two pups. Having the advantage of weight and height over them, the fox likely thought the attack on the tiny predators would be an easy feat. The camera-trap recording showed the fox entering the den multiple times at night before he finally attacked and likely killed one of the pups.

Wolves hunting foxes is heard of, but the reverse has never been recorded, making this incident extremely rare. The trap camera was located at Castelporziano Presidential Estate, a protected area near the edge of Rome, Italy. Researchers from the University of Sassari were studying wolf movements and how they raise young pups in the area when they stumbled upon this unusual incident. The team had set up five motion-activated cameras at the site to monitor the wolves' reproductive behavior, but instead caught something else equally fascinating. The footage shows the red fox sniffing around the den cavity before making its move to attack the wolf pups hiding inside it. The pup manages to escape the clutches of the fox for the first time.

However, during the fox's second attack attempt, it visibly captures one of the wolf pups, pulling it out of the den. The video cuts there, keeping the aftermath shrouded in mystery. But the researchers presume the most likely outcome to be the wolf pup being killed by the fox, according to their study published in Current Zoology. Surprisingly, as the team pointed out, the fox had plenty of smaller prey to feast on at the site, including deer. So, they presume that the attack was more driven by instinct than by food shortage. It might be a rare instance, but researchers stress that it is quite important, as it shows how mid-sized predators can directly impact larger predators by attacking the younger and more vulnerable ones in the clan.

"Our observation broadens the known range of antagonistic interactions affecting wolf offspring, demonstrating that even mesocarnivores can exert direct pressure on the reproductive performance of this apex predator," the researchers wrote, as per Phys.org. It's unclear whether this behavior is common for the wolves of the wild. But if it is, researchers fear for the fate of young wolf pups in the region.

In 2016, grey wolves (Canis lupus) were reintroduced to the Castelporziano Presidential Estate, which had an array of prey for the wolves to hunt, feast, and survive on. In April 2025, two denning sites were located using data from GPS trackers worn by the wolves, and camera footage at the site filmed two wolf pups above the den. In May that same year, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) was caught traversing around the den's entrance.

The fox returned to the same burrow two days later to attempt an attack on the pups. Although the attack footage was cut, another video in the daylight showed only one pup roaming outside the burrow. 

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