Wolves share a long and enduring history with humans having been wiped out from vast areas across the globe by excessive hunting practices and habitat destruction. Largely spurred by false narratives surrounding the dangers of these apex predators, coupled with attacks on livestock, the “big bad wolf” occupies the centre of many social, cultural and environmental controversies, but as they start to enjoy a comeback through redistribution programmes, their very behaviours have changed for survival around humans, potentially making them more difficult for researchers to understand and perhaps protect as climate change threatens ecosystems.
It is rare now to observe wolf behaviour free from the influence of human encroachment. Curiosity of humans instead of fear is a rare thing — and to see them behave in their most natural way is difficult. But for readers interested, there is a great documentary on exploring an isolated pack of Arctic wolves (canis lupus arctos).
Wolves thriving, free of human persecution, is made more complex by the experiences of farmers versus general public, with one analysis of 105 quantitative surveys finding farmers and hunters harbouring more hostile attitudes toward wolves than the public, while younger and also more educated people particularly had more favourable outlooks toward wolves, especially if they have no contact with them.
As egregious intent towards wild wolves often result from ill-informed reasoning, critically endangered species such as the red wolf (canis rufus), and a sub-species of the grey wolf, the Mexican wolf (canis lupus baileyi) have been at risk of disappearing entirely. For the latter, regrowth has only been possible through effective conservation efforts in the last four decades with wolves enjoying gradually exponential numbers from year to year. Between 2020-2021 alone, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service documented a growth of 14%, representing an all-time record.
Similarly in Africa, the Ethiopian wolf (canis simensis), confined to a few small mountain regions of the Siemen and Bale Mountains National Parks, suffered a decline due to rabies outbreaks, human encroachment and habitat destruction, overgrazing and hybridisation plans. The decline prompted numerous attempts to protect the 500 or so wolves left. This included vaccinations and community and school education programmes as well as more vigorous species monitoring. But other factors like climate change are set to cause further disruptions in coming decades with one study warning that suitable habitats for Ethiopian wolves will be severely affected as the climate crisis worsens, possibly forcing them into extinction by the mid-century if corrective measures aren’t put in place.
While these critical steps have largely preserved and bolstered wolf numbers, more protection through conservation management initiatives is yet needed and though public education programmes have been proposed, the data is unclear on its effectiveness. One 2008 study on Swedish communities discovered that increased exposure to wolves found negative attitudes to the species, over communities not exposed to them. Likewise it showed no correlation between knowledge and positive attitudes towards wolves, making it unclear if education and exposure alone will suffice.
Though understanding wolf behaviour and their impact on the local and global ecosystem is a promising start, in order to drive productive conversations in town halls and shape tangible government policies, more research needs to be done on understanding these attitudes among locals.
Tackling the problem therefore involves a social scientific approach to understanding the human behaviour behind decisions to ban or welcome wolves into the landscape. For instance, research shows that politically left-right ideologies are a factor with regard to hunting and land/property rights and environmental conservation. More research is needed to understand these processes in relation to localised wolf management.
Shifting gears from perceiving wolves as one-dimensional pests to empathetic, complex, social animals, integral to a complex ecosystem is a good start. This involves a basic understanding of ecology about wolves: for example, they target sick and dying ungulates such as elk and bison, effectively keeping prey numbers healthy and in check which allows them to not overpopulate. This in turn reduces overgrazing and protecting and balancing plant species, while in return, plentiful prey reduces risks of wolves targeting livestock, since they actually prefer wild prey. Freely available evidence like this can help shift attitudes particularly among landowners while in the longterm shape more powerful political stances in favour of wolf conservation efforts.
It’s unfortunate that human attitudes towards our environment and the wildlife in it are often fixated on how it benefits or hinders us, but a multidisciplinary approach may be necessary to move forward in protecting species. From understanding the political and social makeup of different groups of people, and their relationships to the environment married with the ecological and biological mechanisms of wolf behaviour. With this in mind, educating the public to decentre humans, we can start to see wolves as a species deserving of a right to exist and flourish as well as an appreciation of how they benefit the environment around them.