A dramatic wildlife encounter just outside Athens has reignited a national conversation about the return of wolves to Mount Parnitha. A video filmed near Lake Beletsi shows a deer leaping into the water to escape a pursuing pack — a rare and cinematic moment in Greece’s natural world.

The chase unfolded close to residential area Ippokrateios Politeia, and near a trail popular with families and hikers during the weekens. It has brought renewed focus to the delicate balance between people and wildlife in Parnitha National Park — a 300-square-kilometer Natura 2000 protected area under constant pressure from human activity and repeated wildfires, the latest in 2024.

Wolves, once native to the mountain but extinct there since the 1950s, were rediscovered in 2012 by the environmental group Callisto. Their population has since surged to an estimated 40-50 individuals. Meanwhile, Parnitha’s red deer — listed as Critically Endangered in Greece’s Red List of Threatened Species — have suffered steep declines, from more than 1,000 a decade ago to just a few hundred today.

The wolves’ comeback has divided opinion. Earlier this year, a public prosecutor ordered their removal, citing safety concerns for nearby residents. But the Ministry of Environment and Energy’s “Nature 2000” Committee, Greece’s top advisory body on biodiversity, overturned the order. The committee ruled that removing the wolves would disrupt natural ecological processes and prove “technically unfeasible,” noting that new packs would inevitably recolonize the area.