Sometimes even animals that normally keep their distance from one another meet at a watering hole. This was precisely the scene captured by a camera trap in Kazakhstan’s Altyn-Emel State National Park. A wolf and a group of wild asses known as kulans arrived at a watering hole almost simultaneously.
The wolf noticed the kulans and stopped some distance away. The animals watched each other closely, but neither side made any sudden movements or retreated. After a while, they all continued drinking, keeping their distance.
Wolves are natural predators of kulans, so under normal circumstances, the two species try to avoid each other. But at the watering hole, the rules changed: In extreme heat, the need for water increases, forcing the animals to use the same water sources.
Instead of the usual chase, there was a brief pause this time. The wolf stood calmly near the kulans before turning and walking away, leaving them at the water. The camera trap captured this unusual moment — a rare scene in the wild in which a predator and its potential prey briefly found themselves side by side.
