Abstract
<jats:p>Early-life mortality is an important determinant of population dynamics and individual fitness in large mammals, yet the causes of neonatal mortality often remain poorly understood. In wild boar (Sus scrofa), piglets remain concealed in farrowing nests during their first days of life, making direct observations of mortality processes exceptionally rare. Although wild boar remains have been reported in red fox (Vulpes vulpes) diets, it has remained unclear whether foxes actively prey upon neonatal piglets or primarily exploit carcasses opportunistically. Here, we provide, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence of red fox predation on neonatal wild boar piglets at a natural farrowing nest. Using remote video monitoring combined with high-resolution GPS tracking of a reproductive female wild boar in south-central Sweden, we documented two video-documented predation events in which a fox captured and removed live piglets from the nest. The last GPS positions of the sow recorded before both attacks were 35–50 m from the nest, returning only seven seconds after the fox left the camera field of view during the first event. Following predation, the sow relocated with the surviving piglets to a secondary nest site, approximately 1.8 km away. Our observations demonstrate that red foxes are capable of successfully preying upon neonatal wild boar piglets under natural conditions and suggest that even brief interruptions in maternal attendance may create opportunities for predators to access highly vulnerable offspring. These findings highlight the value of combining camera monitoring with maternal GPS tracking to reconstruct predator attacks, maternal responses, and litter relocation following predation, revealing behavioural interactions and mortality processes that are otherwise difficult to observe during early life stages.</jats:p>