Wolf and Human
Humans are more obsessed with wolves than wolves are with humans. Actually, wolves are animals that hide and avoid humans, and in accordance to that, preferably settle areas where there are no humans.
On the other hand, wolf battues are known for centuries. Not only that they are organized because of domestic animals humans feed on, but wolves are considered as impersonation of everything evil. And it is a paradox that they were mostly exterminated in so-called developed countries. While Indians admired wolf way of living, Europe was going ahead with extermination of these animals, which they transferred to North America where immigrants brought irrational fear from wolves. Because it is indisputable that they prefer feeding on wild ungulates, rather than on domestic ones. They do not kill for joy, unlike humans. Until it is hungry, it is one of the most timid animals there is. It runs away from humans and domestic dogs and livestock. When it is hungry – it forgets cautiousness and cunningness. It gets madly brave and is not afraid of anything – "hungry like a wolf". Only in that state it is prone to attacking livestock, and even then, more rarely than humans think. Research showed that wolves kill less than one sheep in 1000 sheep, and even 80 % of domestic animals that get killed by wolves are sheep , which makes a total damage of 1 in many thousands of domestic animals. And that number would be smaller too if humans were not cutting down forests and hunting wild animals because by doing this they are destroying their habitats and wolves are left without enough food.
Wolf is often represented in stories, books, films... as disgusting, horrible beast – demon with many awful and dangerous traits. They carry this burden of being a creature that brings terror for centuries. On the course of this, superstition turned it into werewolf, a creature that is at one point wolf and another human. Moonlight helps wolves when hunting and they howl to gather, but humans viciously and immediately made up werewolves that appear at the full moon. Many books are responsible for making these animals an object of hate, among which are probably the most popular fables "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs".
In a book of famous zoologist Brehms, wolf battue is described: "A person can not picture a more disturbing image that an image of a wolf which is worn out to death in battue. Thin tongue hangs from its snout which is drooling in slime, white and yellowish ragged fur is bristled and disgusting oder is coming from it. Back legs are tottering whenever it turns around toward its pursuers. They know their opponent very well and they get off horses and kill it with a cudgel, or they push some rag or an old hat into its mouth, grab it by its nape, tie its snout and legs and carry it with them to their homes."
Because of human actions, wolves disappeared from a huge area of European continent and in great part of North America. Wolf extermination was excessive in 19th and 20th century especially.
In many countries the extermination was cruel: in 18th century, they were already vanished from the British isles. The last ones in England were killed in year 1500, in Ireland 1800. In Prussia, in 1819, 1080 wolves were shot. In 19th century, they were gone in many countries of western Europe. In the first half of 19th century, they were already completely extinct along east coast of USA, and not long after that, from the west coast of USA and southern Canada, too. They were also excessively killed in Asia.
During both world wars, they regenerated in good part of Europe. But after wars, humans started exterminating them again, motivated by a belief that they endanger both humans and domestic animals. They were killed even if they were far away from households. Today, they are very rare in western Europe. They survive there in small parts of wilderness.
Until middle of the 20th century, image of wolf as an evil creature was perceived among most of biologists. The first one to stand up for them was a scientist Aldo Leopold.
