Akéla, First Wolf to Re-establish in Wallonia, Dies

Akéla, the first wolf to successfully re-establish in Wallonia and the patriarch of Belgium’s first wolf pack in over a century, has been found dead in Germany. The wolf, genetically identified as GW926m, was discovered on May 14 near Blankenheim in the Euskirchen district of North Rhine-Westphalia, approximately 50 kilometers from Botrange, the highest point in Belgium, according to RTBF.

A Symbol of Wildlife Recovery

Akéla first arrived in the Hautes Fagnes (High Fens) region of Wallonia in June 2018, after wolves had been absent from Belgium for approximately 124 years. His arrival marked a pivotal moment in the country’s wildlife recovery, coming just months after a first wolf had settled in Flanders. In September 2019, he was named “Akela” through a public poll organized by the Réseau Loup and WWF, receiving 39.5% of more than 19,000 votes cast, as reported by RTBF.

The wolf’s journey to Belgium was remarkable. Originating from the Ralsko territory in the north of the Czech Republic, he traveled approximately 700 kilometers as the crow flies to reach the Hautes Fagnes, according to Alain Licoppe, coordinator of the Réseau Loup in Wallonia.

Founding a Wolf Dynasty

During the 2020-2021 monitoring season, Akéla formed a pair with female wolf Maxima (GW1943f). The couple reproduced three times—in 2021, 2022, and 2023—establishing the first wolf pack in Wallonia, known as the “Meute du Nord des Hautes Fagnes.” Their 2021 descendants went on to found the Nordeifel and Hohes Venn Süd packs, creating a unique permanent presence zone covering 60,000 hectares that extends beyond the German border, as documented by RTBF.

“He has not reproduced since then, but his lineage is mainly responsible for the current wolf colonization in Wallonia,” Licoppe explained. “The Hautes Fagnes territory is occupied by ‘his children.’ This is also the case for the territory in the Anlier forest in the Liège Ardennes and probably also at Saint-Hubert.”

Maxima was found dead in March 2024, killed in a road accident near Eupen. Akéla subsequently left his territory during the 2024/2025 monitoring year, with genetic detections confirming his movements through the Eifel region of Germany before his final detection near Mechernich on January 19, 2026.

A Natural End

Genetic analysis by the Senckenberg Research Institute in Gelnhausen confirmed the carcass found near Blankenheim was indeed GW926m, according to the North Rhine-Westphalia State Agency for Nature, Environment and Climate Protection (LANUK). The agency described the male as “a key individual for the wolf population of the Eifel region” and noted he was “one of the oldest wolves found dead in North Rhine-Westphalia to date.”

Initial indications suggest Akéla died of natural causes. At approximately 10-11 years old, he had exceeded the average lifespan of 8-10 years for a wild wolf. “It seems he died of natural causes but that remains to be confirmed,” said Licoppe. “He will in any case be autopsied in Germany because that’s where he died. From what I understand, he was quite thin and logically at the end of his life since, for a wild wolf, ten or eleven years is already a very good age.”

Nicolas Yernaux, spokesperson for the SPW (Service Public de Wallonie) and Réseau Loup, noted the wolf may have been killed by one of his descendants who took over the pack. “It’s another symbol of the Hautes Fagnes that has been extinguished,” he said, as reported by Vedia.

A Legacy of Conservation

The news of Akéla’s death comes during a week in which a devastating wildfire burned approximately 3,000 hectares in the Hautes Fagnes, though his death on May 14 was unrelated to the fire. The wolf pack’s territory was at the epicenter of the blaze, though no wolves were confirmed killed, with the pack believed to have escaped to safer areas around Jalhay and Malmedy, according to Wolfsschutz-Deutschland.

Today, approximately 50 wolves are estimated to be present in Wallonia—a remarkable recovery from the fewer than 10 wolves in Belgium as recently as 2025. The wolf’s return to Belgium has been supported by conservation efforts including the WWF-backed Wolf Fencing Team Belgium project, which helps farmers secure their herds with adapted fencing, as documented by WWF France.

Akéla’s death marks the end of an era for wolf conservation in Belgium. His genetic legacy lives on through the packs that now populate the Eifel region and beyond—a testament to the remarkable journey of a single wolf that helped restore a species to a country where it had been absent for over a century. As the wolf population in Wallonia continues to grow, the story of Akéla stands as a powerful symbol of what wildlife recovery can achieve.