Star-crossed wolves produce litter of seven

Incredible footage just broadcast in the Italian media reveals that the celebrity wolves Slavc and Juliet have just had a litter of seven cubs.

Slavc and Juliet have bred for the second year in succession. (These are not their cubs by the way, but are here just to give you something nice to look at). Photograph: All Canada Photos/Alamy

On 1 March 2012, a camera trap set by a hunter in a remote valley in the Dolomites in Italy captured footage of a wolf.

A she-wolf adopts a classic female canid posture to urinate. This is Juliet in March 2012, captured on a camera trap set by a local hunter

 

From the wolf’s posture during urination (in the first seconds of the clip), it appeared to be a she-wolf. This was exciting for two reasons. One: it was the first clear evidence in almost 100 years that a female wolf had entered the region. Two: a radiocollared he-wolf from Slovenia had crossed the Austrian Alps in mid-winter, entered Italy and was heading in the female’s direction. Alessandro Brugnoli (wildlife manager for the Trentino Hunters’ Association) sent a copy of the she-wolf footage to Hubert Potočnik, the Slovenian biologist tracking Slavc’s movements (whose work you can read about in more detail in my last post). “There were some jokes and “bets” over when Slavc would “meet” his bride,” recalls Potočnik.

Rather wonderfully, Slavc and the female did meet up in the Lessinia Natural Regional Park just north of Verona (hence Juliet). They bred at the first available opportunity, producing two cubs in 2013 as revealed by this camera trap footage.

Juliet and two cubs from the 2013 breeding season

 

But the story just gets better. Last week, Potočnik emailed me to say that this year Slavc and Juliet have added another seven pups to the pack, a fact confirmed by an amazing 38-second video clip broadcast on several Italian media channels.

Juliet is captured on film with seven cubs in tow

 

Not everyone is welcoming these new additions to the region, however. Local farmers are obviously concerned and readers of the Verona-based L’Arena newspaper have posted several concerns online.

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