Wolves attempt to hunt European bison Canid News 2026 issue 2
The European bison (Bison bonasus) is often described as a non-prey species and therefore occasionally serves as a baseline in comparative ecological studies. However, historical data and our recent documented observation of wolves (Canis lupus) attacking a European bison herd challenges this. To our knowledge, this is the first video-recorded evidence of wolves attacking a herd, focusing their attack on a small calf.
The event was observed in the Białowieża Primaeval Forest in north-eastern Poland. The recording shows a pack of seven wolves attacking a herd of 11 European bison, focusing on a small calf. The wolves managed to grab the small calf twice, biting it in the neck and attempting to drag it away, but were repeatedly chased away by the other bison. The herd then surrounded the calf and moved out of the camera’s view. It appears that the calf escaped its fate, but it is not certain. Although the video did not capture a direct kill, it suggests that other predation attempts might be successful.
The observation raises questions about why predation attempts are so rare in European ecosystems, whether the European bison can still be described as a non-prey species, and what this could mean for conservation and management of the species. The lack of reported predation attempts and kills does not necessarily mean that they do not occur; it is highly likely that such events go undetected. Although the video-recording provides new insights into European bison-wolf interactions, it remains unknown how often bison are targeted by predators and how often such attempts are actually successful. If wolf predation on bison occurs more often than previously thought, it could potentially have ecological consequences.
Reference
Wijnands, R.R. & Borowik, T. (2026). The King in the Crosshairs: Evidence of a Predation Attempt on European Bison by Wolves. Ecology and Evolution 16(6): e73752. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73752