Hemant Garg, a wildlife enthusiast, took pictures of an Indian grey wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) on May 15, 2025, at Palla, a hamlet on the Yamuna River that connects Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. This is the first time the species has been sighted in Delhi since the 1940s. The Indian Grey Wolf was spotted in Delhi, marking a historic return of the species after nearly 80 years.

At first, Garg, well-known for recording nocturnal wildlife in the Yamuna floodplains and the Delhi area, wasn’t sure what he had witnessed. Garg knew it wasn’t a jackal, but a neighboring farmer said it was. In contrast to a jackal’s narrow snout, the animal’s snout was large and muscular. He was persuaded it was distinct by its sly movement, broad shoulders, and grey coat, particularly around the head.

After noticing Garg, the wolf assumed an ambush position and vanished into the dense grass. Later, he sought advice from his friend, a naturalist from Delhi named Abhishek Gulshan, who initially rejected the notion. However, Garg recognized the animal might have passed across the grassland-forest mix of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh, given the area’s proximity to wildlife corridors and the Yamuna’s present condition, which has ankle-deep water with limited bridges.

Identification and Expert Verification

After receiving Garg’s photos, Gulshan called a naturalist in Pune and a wolf specialist in Chennai named Surya Ramachandran. Without the need for other camera angles, both verified that the animal was an Indian grey wolf. Ramachandran said the animal seemed more like a pure wolf than a hybrid, but he did not rule out the potential of hybridization. He also pointed out parallels to recognized populations in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, and Pune.

Although Garg accepted the potential, he stressed that it would still have a wolf-like genetic and behavioral leaning even if it were to hybridize. He further supported the wolf diagnosis by pointing out that the behavior was unusual for a jackal or domestic dog.

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Dispersing Young Wolf, Not a Hybrid

The sighting was also confirmed by Bilal Habib of the Wildlife Institute of India, who said the animal was probably a one-year-old subadult wolf in the dispersion phase. As distinguishing characteristics, he emphasized the coat and pointed teeth. Habib noted that whereas hybrid wolves usually remain near human settlements, this creature had travelled great distances. He said this was an uncommon but genuine wolf sighting in the National Capital Region by citing comparable images of other dispersing subadults. An Indian Grey Wolf was spotted in Delhi, and its behavior aligns with known patterns of dispersing juveniles.

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