Shore raiders Wily wolves learn to steal crab traps in Canada

The clues read like something from mystery novel: crab traps, suspiciously hauled ashore by unseen hands, had been damaged by baffling teeth marks. The bait inside was missing.

- Leyland Cecco

The question for researchers in the remote corner of British Columbia was: whodunnit? As with many crimes of opportunity in the modern era, the culprit was unmasked by a remote camera.

Researchers have revealed that wily sea wolves had retrieved the traps, swimming to the depths to haul in the float, dragging the ropes ashore in a series of quick and deliberate tugs that displayed what the ecologist Kyle Artelle described as "highly efficient and focused behaviour".

The startling discovery - and potential use of tools - broadens our understanding of wolf intelligence and gives a glimpse at the delightful surprises that emerge when predators coexist with humans.

Artelle’s findings, published in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution alongside coauthor Paul Paquet, come as the result of close collaboration with the Heiltsuk First Nation in British Columbia.