Two rare black wolves were captured on a wildlife camera wading through a stream in Poland over the summer, according to a newly released video by the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland.

Newsweek has reached out to SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland, several wolf ecology experts and the Polish Ministry for Climate and Environment for comment via email on Sunday afternoon.

Why It Matters

Black wolves are rare in Poland, making the sighting of two on video especially remarkable.

What To Know

The video footage, released on SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund Poland’s Facebook page on February 4, compiles two clips from the wildlife camera. The first shows a black wolf slowly padding through the stream before jumping onto the bank, followed by a gray-colored wolf. The second clip shows two black wolves crossing the stream.

Black fur is a genetic mutation and is a fairly rare one in Europe. However, in North America the species is less rare, with around half of the wolves in Yellowstone National Park having black coats. The park website notes that “the presence of black coats was due to a single gene, with all black coated individuals carrying a mutation linked to this coat color – a mutation believed to have originated in domestic dogs.” The park notes that this likely occurred within the past 7,000 years.

Several studies of black wolves in Yellowstone have shown that the mutation is linked to black wolves having “greater survivorship during distemper outbreaks,” and being less aggressive than grey wolves during territorial conflict.

Joanna Toczydłowska, project coordinator of the conservation organization, told the Associated Press it is likely the two black wolves are siblings, given wolves often travel in families. Toczydłowska estimated the wolves were around 66 pounds and a year old, with at least one of them male. She called the sighting “something new and unusual.”

Wolves have been a protected species in Poland since 1998, when they were nearly extinct. Their protection has led to a significant increase in the wolf population. There are around 2,500 to 3,000 wolves in the country, according to the AP, and a majority of them are grey with red or black accents.

Wolves are apex predators that sit at the top of the food chain, regulating prey populations and significantly impacting the entire ecosystem.

What Happens Next?

In the Facebook post celebrating the sighting, the conservation organization noted that they will now collect wolf droppings nearby the camera location in the forest to try and uncover more about the black wolves’ genetics.