
A History of the Wolf - Petiver
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/natural-histories/history-wolf
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2Xheadpalm
The wolf has and is still persecuted by man, mainly for perceived financial
and political reasons today but the negative propaganda and irrational emotion
from the middle ages and beyond still lingers in the general population...

[https://www.wolfawareness.org/issues](https://www.wolfawareness.org/issues)

I live in wolf country and in the winter have seen formed packs of 15 or more
wolves doing the rounds on my property. If I am out and about walking in that
woodlands it is something to be aware of and like any wildlife should be
treated with care and respect but moments of brief fear and potential, rare
danger is not a reason to eliminate them mercilessly.

This country is also ranching country and yes, every year, ranchers loose
cattle to predators such as wolves, cougars and grizzly bear, our neighbors
lost 1 cow and had another seriously injured from a wolf pack early this
winter. I can appreciate their desire to protect their livelihoods and bovine
charges but when it comes to wolves the response to these incidents, many
times is motivated with extreme prejudice and their counter measure responses
typically far disproportionaly outweigh the losses for a year.

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intrepidhero
I agree with you that modern outrage about wolf reintroduction is probably
misplaced but I'd be hesitant about dismissing historical reactions.

If you're a subsistence farmer (of which there were many in the middle ages)
losing a cow a year might mean starvation. And I'd wager there were more
wolves around back then.

Eradication was a short sited policy, but maybe not irrational.

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chrisco255
In modern times we have more problems with feral hogs. They will root up and
destroy acres and acres of crops. They're also incredibly quick to multiply as
they can breed year round and have about 2 litters a year at 5-6 piglets per
litter. In many states it's legal to hunt hogs year round as a result.

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hsitz
For anyone interested in wolves, or who enjoyed the History Today article,
there's a talk on youtube by Nick Jans about a wolf in Alaska. Jans wrote a
book called "A Wolf Named Romeo". Romeo was a large, black, lone wolf that for
some reason started (limited) socializing with people and their dogs, mostly
during winters in Juneau at Mendenhal Glacier, where area people went for
recreation. Nick Jans' talk touches on many of the issues described in the
History Today article. Romeo the wolf was eventually killed by hunters, and
the town erected a statue of him.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szhc2wEKEJE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szhc2wEKEJE)

Some scenes of Romeo are here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H98D23Eb9Ow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H98D23Eb9Ow)

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jonplackett
Fascinating read. It shows how effective the biblical rebrand of wolves was
that I didn't know wolves rarely ever kill people. I presumed they'd be really
dangerous for people.

~~~
frank2
Wikipedia: “In France, historical records compiled by rural historian Jean-
Marc Moriceau indicate that during the period 1362–1918, nearly 7,600 people
were killed by wolves”.

~~~
thrower123
14 people a year. Doubtless more people were killed by falling roofing tiles
while walking down the street over those centuries.

~~~
jonplackett
I guess 1 a month isn’t nothing but it is not much. Especially during a period
where I’m sure people died pretty easily from a lot of other causes!

Is it just me who thought wolves were dangerous for people, or did you too
until you looked it up?

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belinder
Didn't know wolves were behind so many origin stories for different peoples
around the world

Only thing missing in the article is some hard numbers, like how many there
used to be and there are now

