Why wolves have such a bad reputation?

People say that wolves are viscious killers that go around eatting people and so on; and even tell this to children.


They are preditors, like tigers, lions and other animals that eat meat; but tiger and lions are rarely talked about in such a derogatory manner in cartoons and in movies or books?





What is the problems with people and wolves; after all thier dogs are just very demosticaty wolves in captivity in the main.

Why wolves have such a bad reputation?
there not that bad!I think a lot of people get them confused with coyotes. Since, most people can't tell the difference. There is a big difference. Coyotes can be dangerous, I would rather deal with a wolf any day! I'm Native American and white
Reply:Don't listen to the people. Wolves are the most wonderful creatures i have ever seen. I have a wildlife protection ground and i take care of 10 wolves. I have examened their behavor and i have comed to the conclusin that they are realy caryng creatures. All the female wolves take care of the cubs and the males protect everyone. Wolves are my favorite animals and i realy enjoy working with them. Every time i get into the cage they all come running towards me and push me on the ground. Then they start to lick me and i play with them for hours and hours.


Wolves are magnificent creatures and have to ignore their bad reputation.
Reply:Wolves are the best pack hunters and their society is to be respected humans should work together so well.
Reply:I know all about this and I have been fighting with this type of superstitious ignorance for years!! I love wolves because I love dogs which as you say are domesticated wolves. The reason people have such a problem with wolves is because of the ignorance passed down from one generation to another, you would not believe how many times as a child I was told wolves will grab a young child and kill them right out of your yard. However I am a questioner, I question everything and so instead of blindly believeing what people told me I did research to find out for myself. Other people arent so independant and cannot think for themselves thus they believe anything they are told and cite thier references as so and so told me so it must be true...





I have been able over the years to dispell some of this ignorance but I tell you in Northern Ontario Canada where everyone is a farmer or a hunter the ignorance is staggering.... and believe it or not where I live there was no limit on wolf hunting, no season and no tag required. I helped to change this by participating in collecting signatures on a petition to have this changed and in the process I found many people who do know that wolves are beautiful predators that are in no way evil, thanks to people like that we got the policy changed, now there is ban on hunting wolves during breeding and pup rearing season, a limit of 1 wolf per season, a seal has to be purchased and a license as well. Wolves are also protected in more areas now and there are wildlife corridors where hunting is banned that leads between wildlife preserves.





I still fight the ignorance and it still bothers me but I know that the more people you teach the truth the better it will be in the future, I especially try and educate any children about it so the next generation knows better and is free from hereditary ignorance. I suggest anyone who knows about what wolves are really like does the same... because the more people we reach the less ignorance there is in the world!





PS just for an example a man wrote a letter to the paper about how wolves were evil, killed entire herds of deer for fun and quote "rip the still twitching fetuses out of the bellies of deer" I wrote back and explained yes wolves would do that because they have to to survive, humans do far worse every day than the entire population of wolves on this planet has ever done, and it is in no way evil for them to kill thier prey pregnant or not. The man claimed that wolves kill everything for fun and anyone should be able to shoot them at will, too bad he is too ignorant and I and many others made it against the law for him to kill anymore wolves because of our petition!! His name - Charlie Smith is an ignorant fool!!! Boycott his crappy poetry because he is a fraud and knows nothing of the true wilderness!!





PS the answer below is an example of blatant ignorance, wolves only have a kill rate of 1 in 10 that means 9 times out of 10 they fail to catch thier prey and they do not waste precious time or energy killing things they dont eat, funny this man stated almost the same thing as the aforementioned man who wrote to the paper. Wolves do not slaughter herds of deer on the ice and leave it to rot that is an ignorant statement based on heresy passed from one idiot to the next... furthermore the evolutionary adaptation of wolves to be able to eat over 10lbs of meat and then go for weeks without eating proves otherwise because they would not have this adaptation if they were so successful they could leave thier kills to rot uneaten.
Reply:1. Ignorance


2. Stupidity


3. Literature


4. Folklore


5. The need to demonize something


6. TV


7. More Stupidity


8. Even More Stupidity


9. Infinite Stupidity


10. Did I mention Stupidity








Wolves are awesome aren't they?
Reply:The problem with wolves is that they so often turn to livestock for prey. Another big problem for wolves is that they senselessly kill far more than they need to survive. These are facts that push public atittudes against wolves. I have seen winter weakened deer slaughtered by wolves and just left to rot.