Environment

Beautiful images reach us from Poland via conservation organization SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland.

In a forest in Poland, two rare black wolves were captured on film. Their black color is highly exceptional in Europe since the majority of wolves there have gray fur with red or black shades. The two black animals filmed by chance are believed to be from the same litter. The cameras were initially placed to film the behavior of beavers, but were now able to capture black wolves.

Black fur stems from a genetic mutation that arose in domesticated dogs that lived thousands of years ago. But in Europe, there is less genetic diversity among wolves, making all-black fur very rare. Unlike Yellowstone National Park in the United States, for example, where half of the wolf population has black fur.

(FVDV for Tagtik/Source: SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland/Illustration picture: Photo by Fabian Lauer on Unsplash)