A joint investigation by experts from Catalonia, France and Germany has been able to confirm the presence in Vilaller (Alta Ribargorça, Catralunya) of a wild specimen of wolf (Canis lupus) born in Nordhorn (Germany), which could be the displacement (movement dispersal) longest documented so far in this species worldwide: 1,240 km.
The detection of this migrant specimen has occurred from the observation and analysis of excrement found in Vilaller in February 2023 by members of the Agents Rurals body (Generalitat de Catalunya) who participate in the monitoring of this species. After genetic analysis of these remains and after reviewing data from other specialized European groups, it has been confirmed that they belong to a specimen born in Nordhorn (Germany) in 2020 and detected in 2022 in France.
The feces were found by the Special Canine Group of Rural Agents within the framework of wolf monitoring carried out by the Corps jointly with the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda.
Specifically, wolf monitoring through molecular genetics implemented in Germany, France and Catalonia, as well as scientific collaboration between three laboratories, including that of the Molecular Genetics Veterinary Service of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
“This is the largest dispersal event of a gray wolf that has ever been documented worldwide,” highlighted the research team in this case, which is now working on publishing its results in a specialized scientific journal.
Previously, the longest distances that had been recorded were 1,092 km between Norway and Finland, 880 km between Germany and Belarus in 2009 and Slovakia in 2022-2023, experts say.
“The discovery arises from the location a year ago of feces found by the Caní Special Group (GEK9) of Rural Agents within the framework of the wolf monitoring carried out by the Operational Corps and coordinated by agent Gabriel Lampreave, jointly with the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda”, indicate the entities participating in this study in an informative note. Specifically, wolf feces were detected on February 13, 2023 in Alta Ribagorça thanks to the use of specially trained dogs from the Caní Special Group (GEK9) to identify feces of large carnivores.
In this area there has been a male identified since 2021, but automatic photographs during the winter of 2022-2023 provided elements that made us suspect the presence of a possible second specimen. For this reason, the prospecting effort was increased, which allowed the collection of a sample on the southern slope of the Pyrenees, in the municipality of Vilaller.
The genetic analysis carried out by the laboratory of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) indicated a “w1” lineage referred to the wolf population of central and eastern Europe, which was the first case of detection of “w1”; this type in the Spanish State. Within the framework of a long collaboration between France and Catalonia in wolf monitoring, a sample was sent for analysis to the French laboratory Antagene, which confirmed the coincidence with an individual previously located in the Burgundy region, in the east of France.
Specifically, it was the individual called by scientists GW1909m, which had also previously been located in Germany. Since February 2023, no evidence of the presence of this individual has been located in Alta Ribagorça.
The same wolf detected in Catalonia was already located on June 17, 2022, when a driver saw a canid running along a road in the commune of Fleurey-Les-Faverney (Haute Saone, France). He identified it as a wolf-like canid, managed to take a photo and notified local authorities. Thanks to this notice, an officer from the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB), a member of the species’ monitoring network in France, managed to collect some hairs in a wire fence in the place where the witness indicated that the wolf had passed. . These hairs were subjected to genetic analysis.
The Antagene reference laboratory, in charge of carrying out genetic analyzes of wolves in France, found the DNA haplotype called “w1”, which is quite unusual for wolves in France. As this individual carried a genetic trait that frequently occurs in Germany and adjacent areas of central and northeastern Europe, a sample was sent for cross-match analysis at the German reference laboratory. Cross-validation revealed that this sample matched perfectly with a male named GW1909m by the scientists, already known in the German genetic database.
Thanks to fecal samples analyzed in August 2020 by the Senkerberg Research Institute, it is known that GW1909m was born in a group located near Nordhorn (Lower Saxony), a few kilometers from the border with the Netherlands. The analysis allowed this individual to be assigned to its birth group, where it was detected again in May 2021. Genetic evidence shows that GW1909m must have been born in spring 2020, since its parental group did not reproduce before this year .
Wolves are spreading across Europe thanks to strict legal protection since the late 1970s.
The recolonization of new areas has occurred from Italy to the Alps and also from central Europe to the plains of Germany or western Poland. The species is known for its behavioral plasticity and long-distance dispersal ability, which can extend for hundreds of kilometers.
Wolf GW1909m is an example of the behavioral plasticity and physical ability of this large wild canid. Its journey is especially impressive considering that the animal did not travel through large wilderness areas, but instead dispersed such long distances across the anthropic or anthropized landscapes of Western Europe. Although the current fate of GW1909m is still unknown, it remains to be seen whether future genetic analyzes can again detect this animal, or even its offspring.
Iberian, Italian and Central wolf populations are still somewhat isolated apart from some documented cases of dispersal. Breeding events between these three genetic lineages of wolves have never been recorded until now, and scientists would agree that these long-distance dispersal events are important for connecting distant wolf populations and preventing genetic isolation and consanguinity.
Wolf populations practically disappeared from Catalonia at the beginning of the 20th century. Starting in 2003, the first identifications began to be made, especially in the Cadí and Ripollès areas. Twenty years later in Catalonia there is no established breeding population of wolves, although there is the presence of isolated individuals, which are animals that come from the natural dispersal of the wolf population present in France; therefore, all of them of Italian-Alpine origin.
Currently there are four genetically identified wolf specimens in Catalonia, all males; In the last 5 years no female has been detected and, therefore, no evidence of reproduction. The management of the wolf in the Catalan territory is carried out by the General Directorate of Environmental Policies and Natural Environment of the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, while the Corps of Rural Agents, of the Department of the Interior, carries out and coordinates the follow-up actions on the ground.
