If you ever doubted that dogs descended from wolves, here's your chance to see the proof. A video shared to TikTok showcases a wolf enjoying the company of a rather unusual playmate: a grizzly bear. Interactions between Yellowstone's grizzlies and wolves have been caught on camera in the past (like this pack driving a bear away from their prey), but an interaction like this has never been shared before.
In the viral clip, the wolf attempts to lure the bear away from animal carcass its clearly interested in. Yellowstone visitor and wildlife photographer Trevor LaClair of Trekking with Trevor was lucky enough to capture the interaction, preserving it for the rest of us to see.
"During an early morning drive in Yellowstone, we stopped at a nearby carcass that had a grizzly bear on it. As we grabbed our cameras to get into position, a distant howl echoed across the valley," LaClair captioned the post. "I was ecstatic knowing that there were wolves nearby. While photographing the bear, I noticed a single black wolf trotted down the hill toward the bear. Three more soon appeared. Two of the wolves approached the grizzly, hoping to get a taste of the carcass the bear pulled out of the frozen pond."
@trekkingwithtrevor Oh my gosh, this made me SO happy! Actual footage of an introvert and extrovert interacting. During an early morning drive in Yellowstone, we stopped at a nearby carcass that had a grizzly bear on it. As we grabbed out cameras to get into position, a distant howl echoed across the valley. I was ecstatic knowing that there were wolves nearby. While photographing the bear, I noticed a single black wolf trotted down the hill toward the bear. Three more soon appeared. Two of the wolves approached the grizzly, hoping to get a taste of the carcass the bear pulled out of the frozen pond. One of the wolves got to close and the bear lunged at it as a warning. However, the wolf viewed it as an opportunity to lure the bear away and began play bowing and bouncing around. This was the cutest and best thing I have ever seen. It was hard not to laugh at this interaction. After a while, the grey wolf gave up and laid down nearby, waiting patiently for a piece of meat., looking like it was pouting. Eventually, the grizzly left and two of the wolves tugged at the remaining carcass. We continued to watch for a couple hours until the wolves trotted away. This was the best wolf sighting I have ever received during all my years of guiding in the park. I was so happy to be gifted with this experience! That wolf definitely left me with a huge grin on my face. Nature is awesome! . . . #wolfpack #wolf #wolves #wildlifephotography #wildlife #wildlifeplanet #wildlifeconservation #bear #grizzly #grizzlybear #yellowstone #animalkingdom #animals #nationalgeographic #natgeowild #wilderness #nature #animallover
The video only shows a small portion of the encounter, but LaClair describes it in detail. He says that as the wolf walked up to the bear, it was almost as if it was thinking, "Hold on, I got this." Logically, the wolf's playfulness seems to have been an attempt to get the bear to abandon the carcass. Or maybe the wolf felt like taking his life into his own paws by trying to become friends with a bear?
"One of the wolves got too close, and the bear lunged at it as a warning," LaClair explained. "However, the wolf viewed it as an opportunity to lure the bear away and began play bowing and bouncing around it." So it seems there was, in fact, an ulterior motive on the wolf's part. Despite that, LaClair says it's the "cutest and best thing" he's ever seen and that it was "hard not to laugh" as the two animals played a game of cat and mouse bear and wolf.
While this was a somewhat rare interspecies occurrence, wolves often play with each other like this—which is likely where our beloved canine friends adopted the behavior from.
The main difference, of course, is that our pets are usually looking for a treat—not a carcass.
