Ethiopian wolves feed on sweet nectar 

For the first time, scientists have documented wolves foraging for nectar. The scientists documented the Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis), one of the rarest wild canid species in the world, feeding on the nectar of the Ethiopian red hot poker (Kniphofia foliosa). The behavior, which researchers saw with multiple wolves from different packs, could potentially lead to pollination. The wolves’ muzzles become covered in pollen in the act, which they could transfer to other flowers while they’re feeding. “These findings highlight just how much we still have to learn about one of the world’s most-threatened carnivores,” said Sandra Lai, a senior scientist with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme based at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study documenting these findings, in a press release. “It also demonstrates the complexity of interactions between different species living on the beautiful Roof of Africa. This extremely unique and biodiverse ecosystem remains under threat from habitat loss and fragmentation.” 

Read the study in Ecology.