The wolf - a danger for us humans?

In 1998, a pair of wolves was sighted again for the first time since the wolves were exterminated about 150 years ago, having migrated from Poland. Two years later, this pair raised pups for the first time on the Oberlausitz military training area. The foundation stone for the return of wolves to Germany had been laid. In the monitoring year 2019/20, 128 packs, 38 wolf pairs and nine sedentary individual wolves were already living in Germany again (source: DBBW).

Again and again, people say that they are afraid of wolves or afraid that something could happen to their children, even though they have themselves never encountered a wolf in the wild. However, if we look at the facts, the issue should be quickly clarified.

For 20 years, there has been no proven wolf attack on a human being in Germany. But wolves are shot illegally every year. In the monitoring year 2019/20, 11 illegally killed wolves were found and in 7 others illegal shooting was detected after a traffic accident during the investigations (source: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation). The number of unreported cases is estimated to be much higher. 

Nevertheless, the topic has preoccupied me in recent years. Would it be conceivable for a wolf to attack a human being?

Of course, a predator can always pose a danger. But in my personal opinion, a much greater danger comes from dogs than from wolves. But why do I think that? Quite simply, dogs are brought up or even spoiled by us. We also transfer emotions to them, which can be joy, but also aggression. Wild animals, on the other hand, know no aggression.

Personal experience

Nevertheless, I wanted to meet the animals in person to be able to answer this question even better. So I travelled to the west coast of Canada, to the Great Bear Rainforest. I searched for them for over 6 weeks without a sign, until 05 August 2018.

My camera shutter rattles, but she doesn't give me a glance. I feel like a ghost looking through a window. For her, I don't seem to exist. I get this exclusive glimpse into her life without disturbing her. My heart races, I have goose bumps all over my body, unbelievable joy flows through me. An encounter I couldn't have dreamed of more beautifully. She stands by the water for two minutes and enjoys the view before she moves on.

encounter. I am incredibly happy and enjoy this moment, which only lasts a few seconds until she follows her nose again.
I, on the other hand, continue to sit in my hide, shaking my head, feeling my heartbeat and goosebumps. I have the feeling that I am the one in a million who was allowed to have such an intimate experience with a wild coastal wolf.

Three quarters of a year later, I visited my coastal wolves one more time. You can watch one of the encounters HERE on YouTube.

Critical diseases

Now, of course, there are also diseases that can affect animals and their behaviour. The best known is probably rabies. When wild animals are infected with rabies, they often lose their shyness towards humans.
However, terrestrial rabies (rabies in animals that cannot fly) has been eradicated in Germany since 2008. So this danger does not exist.

Another disease that wolves, but also other animals such as foxes, have to fight is mange. Mange is a mite disease. Mange mites are tiny arachnids that live on and in the upper layer of the skin of infected animals.

nothing I could do for him. Due to the extreme itching, the infected animals scratch themselves very often, sometimes so badly that they lose their fur and sometimes even bleed.

There are people who claim that animals suffering in this way should be "freed" from their suffering. But if this wolf had given up, he would have died long ago, I'm sure of it. On the contrary, he is a fighter and wants to live on! He has fought against this disease for too long to simply give up now.

Conclusion:

I have photographed 12 wolves, belonging to two different subspecies, in the wild, once our European grey wolves, and the coastal wolves of Canada. I have come closer to these animals than almost anyone else. None of the wolves I observed showed the slightest signs of aggression or aggressiveness, not even the poor wolf suffering from mange.

Therefore I claim with all my experience that the probability of a wolf attacking a child or an adult human being in Germany is almost impossible! Likewise, the likelihood of you encountering a wolf yourself in a wolf area is very low!

Of course, it is important to behave correctly towards wild wolves as well as strange dogs. As with other dogs, the first rule with wild wolves is the same: do not stroke them. With wolves, of course, this is much easier to observe. Also, you must not feed it under any circumstances! That can have massive consequences.

Also, do not approach them! By approaching, the animals can feel threatened and act out of fear. If a wolf does approach a human, it is often the yearlings (one-year-old wolves). They are still curious and playful. Nevertheless, we have to make it clear to these wolves that it is not in our interest for them to approach us. Therefore, it is important to address an approaching wolf in a certain voice and make it clear to it that this is wrong. But this happens very rarely. If that doesn't help, stand tall and look confident. Do not run away under any circumstances, because the wolf is used to that from prey. His hunting instinct might kick in.

Likewise, you should not let your children play alone in the forest. Whether this is because of the wolf, or because of the 83 million people who live with you in Germany ;-)

You can find out more about how to behave towards wolves at the Federal Ministry for the Environment.

I hope I was able to give you more clarity on the subject of wolves with my experiences and show you what wonderful unique animals they are. Another article I wrote about wolves in relation to herd protection can be found HERE.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your family and friends and educate them about our true wolves.

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