Wolves are eating dogs on the Harghita

Romanian scientists have made the astonishing discovery when they studied the droppings of local wolves in the Harghita region. As it turns out, their distant relatives have also become their food.

Although the number of wolves is generally in line with their prey animals, a strange phenomenon has been observed in Transylvania. And not only wolves, goldes jackals can be seen more and more on the slopes of the Eastern Carpathians.

The Carpathians have become home to wolves and golden jackals

Although wolves and bears are common predators in the Harghita, recently an increasing number of jackals have been spotted in the area. The Wolflife project has been studying the habits of these predators for four years and has also assessed the population. Szilárd Szabó, head of the Nature Protection Department of the Harghita County Environmental Protection Agency, while presenting the Wolflife project, said that the phenomenon in Romania is unique in the world.

The wolves’ diet include domestic dogs in huge proportions: as high as 20 percent.

This has never been observed anywhere in the world before. According to the expert, there are several reasons for this.

Why Transylvanian wolves eat dogs

The wolf sees the dog as a competitor, as it is also a predator, so it tries to destroy it. Dog ownership habits also contribute to this phenomenon.

There are a lot of stray dogs around there, and it is common for the shepherds to collect the local dogs in the spring when they go out to graze. But in the autumn they do not bring them back from the mountain. This way they can avoid having to feed them in winter. Dogs left unattended thus become victims of wolves.